BLND - Blend Labs to reduce headcount 28% names head of finance administration

Blend Labs ( NYSE: BLND ) plans to pare headcount , improve its investment strategies to enhance its product line, revenue models, and gross margins, and create a new position to head finance and administration as it maps out a path to profitability, the company said Tuesday.

Blend ( BLND ) stock jumped 6.2% in Tuesday after-hours trading.

The company that provides a technology platform for banks, fintechs, credit unions, and other financial institutions plans a 28% reduction in its onshore employee base, affecting iBlend Title, corporate operations in R&D, sales and marketing, and general and administrative functions.

This latest restructuring and prior savings actions are expected to reduce Blend's ( BLND ) annualized cost of revenue and operating expenses by more than $100M in total on a non-GAAP basis exiting CY2023 relative to Q3 2022.

Blend ( BLND ) will allocate an increased portion of operating expenses into Blend Builder, a configurable software platform that carries a subscription fee on top of success-based transaction fees.

For its large mortgage customer base, it will focus on helping lender be more efficient by implementing the backlog of features built over the past several years, including Loan Officer Toolkit, Self-Serve Prequalification, Blend Income, and Blend Close.

Amir Jafari was named head of Finance & Administration, a new position that will oversee Finance, People Operations, Legal, Compliance, IT, and Information Security. As part of this change, Blend President Tim Mayopoulos will leave his management role in Q1 but will remain on the board. Marc Greenberg, head of Finance, will leave Blend ( BLND ) after a transition period.

Crystal Sumner, head of Legal, Compliance, and Risk will exit in early February. Upon her departure, Winnie Ling, who currently heads corporate and securities legal functions, will become head of Legal, reporting to Jafari.

The set of initiatives is intended to affirm and accelerate "our previously communicated path to profitability, including enabling Blend to realize enhanced gross margins from our Blend Platform offerings, including mortgage banking, beginning as soon as the second half of 2023," said Nima Ghamsari, head of Blend ( BLND ).

Conference call at 4:30 PM ET.

For further details see: