HOUSTON — With new origination volume soaring, First Investors Financial Services Group finished its 2011 fiscal year on a record-setting note, watching net income climb to the highest point in company history.

Officials recently calculated their net earnings came in at $1,342,365 or 29 cents per basic common share for the fourth quarter that ended April 30.

For the entire fiscal year that wrapped up on the same date, First Investors' net earnings soared to $3,365,461 or 72 cents per basic common share.

To show how much the company improved, officials recapped that fourth-quarter net earnings during the previous fiscal year was $155,999, or 3 cents per basic common share. For the 2010 fiscal year, the figure was $735,735 or 16 cents per basic common share.

As the company saw its net earnings climb, First Investors also enjoyed a 189.9-percent year-over-year spike in new origination volume. The figure moved up to $143.5 million from $49.5 million.

In related segments, officials revealed their delinquency rate by dollars of delinquent accounts decreased from 2.1 percent at the close of the 2010 fiscal year to 1.8 percent at the end of the most recent fiscal year. They added the annual net charge-off rate also decreased from 6.5 percent to 5.3 percent.

First Investors insisted the decrease in the net charge-off rate was due to a combination of lower repossession rates and higher vehicle recovery rates.

Furthermore, the company went on to explain what else positively impacted its 2011 fiscal-year results. These factors included a one-time exit fee received last September in exchange for the company's agreement to release servicing rights on a portfolio to the third-party client that had elected to re-establish a servicing platform.

Officials said this agreement positively impacted net income by $302,896 or 6 cents per fully diluted share for the 2011 fiscal year. During the previous fiscal year, they mentioned results included a $250,243 gain after taxes associated with the reduction of an uncertain tax position and the reversal of certain accruals for interest and penalties related to this position.

The company highlighted a series of other benefits to its most recent fiscal year. That list covered many accounting categories: lower interest expense, a lower provision for credit losses and lower operating expenses that were partially offset by lower interest income and lower other income.

First Investors pointed out net interest income increased 2.4 percent during the 2011 fiscal year. The company believes the rise was primarily due to the positive impact provided by a portfolio of auto loans acquired by the company last October. Officials also noted a 102 basis point increase in the effective yield on the portfolio of receivables held for investment, a 29 basis point decrease in the average cost of debt and a 14.2-percent decrease in the average debt outstanding.

However, officials computed the improvement was partially offset by a 13.9-percent decrease in the average outstanding balance of the portfolio of receivables held for investment.

In other segments of its financial report, First Investors determined servicing revenue decreased 61.7 percent. The company said the drop was due to the amortization of the serviced portfolio, the release of portfolio servicing rights back to a third party client last September and the acquisition of a portfolio previously serviced on behalf of a third party client last October.

Meanwhile, officials found their total operating expenses decreased 5.1 percent compared to the 2010 fiscal year. The dip primarily stemmed from decreases in headcount, other interest expense and repossession and collection-related fees. But the downtick was partially offset by increases in printing and postage costs associated with the company's decision to re-enter the direct lending market last August.

Moving along to other ledger highlights as of April 30, First Investors reported its portfolio of receivables held for investment net was $332.8 million, a 1.9-percent decrease from the balance at the end of the 2010 fiscal year.

"We are very pleased with our operating results for the fiscal year ended April 30, which represented the highest net income in the history of the company," stated Tommy Moore Jr., president and chief executive officer of First Investors.

"We reported a significant increase in our origination volume, resulting from improvement in our indirect lending segment as well as the impact of our decision to re-enter the direct lending segment in August 2010," Moore continued. "We realized a significant increase in net interest income from the acquisition of a portfolio consisting of $39.1 million in active loans and $35.8 million in charged-off loans in October 2010 from a third-party servicing client.

"Our credit quality, measured both by delinquency rates and net charge-off rates, improved during fiscal year 2011, which positively impacted our provision for credit losses," Moore went on to say. "During the fiscal year, we also completed our first senior/subordinate securitization, issuing $150 million in asset-backed notes in January."

Moore also recounted that in May the company entered into a definitive agreement to sell 1,666,667 shares of common stock to certain accredited investors affiliated with First Investors at a price of $7.50 per share in a two tranche transaction.

"We closed the first tranche, which covered 666,667 shares in May, and will close the second tranche covering the remaining shares in November," Moore explained.

"The proceeds from the sale will be used to fund the growth in our portfolio of receivables held for investment," he added.

Looking toward the 2012 fiscal year, Moore emphasized, "We will focus on growing our receivables portfolio and continuing to drive improvements in our credit quality."