Sallie Mae CEO Expects Charge Offs To Peak This Year

SLM Corp. (SLM) said Wednesday it expects student-loan charge-offs to peak this year, although the company expects charge-offs to remain at "very high levels" going into next year.

Speaking at the Keefe Bruyette & Woods Diversified Financial Services Conference, Sallie Mae Chief Executive Albert Lord said that while it's difficult to forecast losses, the company's estimates are based on an evaluation of the number of loans entering repayment over the next few years.

"Even with charge-off levels where they are, we're able to see the edge of the forest and we expect that by mid-2010, those [charge-off] numbers will start to come down," Lord said.

In the first quarter, Sallie Mae reported $203 million for private education loan losses, and charge-offs of $139 million of private education loans.

The charge-off rate on Sallie Mae's non-traditional loans, which are mostly made to adult-education students, is seven times greater than those on traditional loans, the company said Wednesday.

"Traditional loans have held up very, very well," Lord said. "Their [charge-off] numbers are up, but still below all other consumer-asset classes."

Sallie Mae shares are off 30% this year, and closed at $6.16 on Tuesday. The student-loan industry has been targeted as an area of reform by President Barack Obama, who wants more loans to come from the federal government.

-By Joseph Checkler; Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-4297; [e-mail]