Sallie Mae's volume up in Q3, company buys back $730 million of shares

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., Oct. 18 - SLM Corp.'s third quarter was "not a bad quarter," said vice chairman and chief executive office Albert L. Lord during the company's earnings call on Thursday.

"The company is growing - and growing its earnings per share," said Lord.

For the third-quarter 2012, GAAP net income was $188 million, or $0.39 diluted earnings per share, compared with net loss of $47 million, or $0.10 diluted loss per share, for the year-ago quarter.

Lord is "happy" with the quarter, noting that volume is up 25% with the same, if not better, credit quality.

Sallie Mae's operating expenses were under a billion dollars, the same level as 10 years ago, said Lord, adding that the company is processing double the amount of loans today.

During the third quarter, Sallie Mae issued $6.9 billion of FFELP asset-backed securities and $4.2 billion of private asset-backed securities, chief financial officer Jonathan Clark said on the call.

Sallie Mae also expanded and extended its FFELP ABCP facility to 2015 and issued $2.65 billion of long-term unsecured debt.

In the third quarter, Sallie Mae paid a common stock dividend of $0.125 per share.

The company repurchased 48.2 million shares of common stock for $730 million during the third quarter and has $170 million of remaining under its common share repurchase authorization.

Based in Reston, Va., Sallie Mae provides saving- and paying-for-college programs.

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