Fieldstone Investment Corp.

11000 Broken Land Pkwy.

Year founded: 1995

Industry: Financial services

Post 200 Category: Top 125 Companies

Revenue: $200.33 Million

Net Income/Loss: $65.56 Million

Earnings per share: $1.34

Dividend: $1.09

Stockholder equity: $526.34 Million

Auditor: KPMG LLP

Stock: FICC

Assets: $5.36 Billion

Market capitalization: $649.03 Million

52-week high: 19.5 2/3/2005

52-week low: 12.54 4/6/2005

President and CEO: Michael J. Sonnenfeld

EVP: Walter P. Buczynski

Employees: 1238

Local employees: 307

Description: Fieldstone Investment specializes in providing "non-conforming" mortgage loans to borrowers who would not qualify for a standard mortgage. Non-conforming means the loans don't qualify for purchase by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Its subsidiary, Fieldstone Mortgage Co., has branch offices in 27 states and works with independent mortgage brokers.

Developments: The company's common stock began trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market on Feb. 3. In 2004, it funded $6.19 billion in non-conforming loans, up from $5.15 billion the previous year. It also provided funds for standard, "conforming" loans worth $1.29 billion, down from $2.22 billion in 2003. In the fourth quarter, it funded $1.54 billion in non-conforming loans, down from $1.62 billion the same quarter a year ago. Conforming loans funded in the quarter totaled $313,638, down from $318,242. Mortgage banker Michael J. Sonnenfeld founded what was known as Fieldstone Mortgage in 1995 with money from the wealthy Bass family of Texas. By mid-2003, the Basses had decided to sell their interest in Fieldstone and hired Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group Inc. to recapitalize the company and find new investors. FBR created the current real estate investment trust, which raised about $658.1 million on Nov. 14, 2003, in a Rule 144A offering — a kind of private stock offering limited to sophisticated and institutional investors. But since then, the Bass family and Fieldstone have been locked in legal battle, with the Basses alleging that they did not get their fair share when Fieldstone was valued. The company posted a profit of $35.3 million in the fourth quarter, up from $6.3 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Last year, Fieldstone reported $65.6 million in profit, up from $47.8 million the previous year.