Mortgage provider Equitable Group Inc. today reported no third-quarter loan losses and negligible late payments as it announced a 23% earnings increase to $8.8 million.

Mortgages arranged during quarter totalled $779.4 million, a company record, and assets at Sept. 30 were up 38% from a year earlier at $3.33 billion.

Equitable Group said its loan quality is solid, with just 0.08% of mortgages in arrears 90 days or more, and its total capital ratio edged up to 11.3%, from 11.1% a year ago.

The quarter’s net income of $8.8 million, 67¢ per share, compared with year-ago earnings of $7.1 million, 59¢per share.

Annualized return on equity was 18.2%, off from 20.3%, pulled back by narrowing spreads between short-term GICs that Equitable uses to fund floating-rate mortgages and the prime rate, the benchmark for pricing these mortgages. To address this, the company has raised rates on new lending.

Equitable said it has no investments in asset-backed commercial paper, does not securitize mortgages through ABCP and does not provide back-up credit facilities to ABCP issuers.

The company “took advantage of credit market turmoil by buying insured mortgages that became available for purchase,” said CEO Andrew Moor, in a news releae.

“In the context of market turmoil, the 23% year-over-year increase Equitable did achieve in third quarter net income was more than satisfactory.”

He added that Equitable’s outlook is positive “based on strong fundamentals in our niches and the Bank of Canada’s recent decision to hold the line on interest rates, which supports real estate activity.”