Countrywide Expects Market Share Gain

Countrywide Financial Corp., Calabasas, Calif., has provided earnings guidance for 2005, estimating that it will earn between $3.25 and $4.25 per share based on lower mortgage industry origination volume but higher market share.Countrywide said it expects to produce between $250 billion and $390 billion of loans next year, based on an estimated range of total mortgage origination volume of $1.8 trillion to $2.7 trillion for the industry. That would give Countrywide a market share of 14.0% to 14.5%. Countrywide also said it expects to see an average loan servicing portfolio of $920 billion to $950 billion next year.