Countrywide: Katrina Impact Likely Over $70M

The financial impact of Hurricane Katrina on Countrywide Financial Corp., Calabasas, Calif., is likely to exceed its hurricane losses for 2004, which totaled approximately $70 million, according to the company.Countrywide said reliable loss estimates cannot be made yet, but it said the company is "well-positioned" to manage the consequences of the disaster. "Countrywide's principal sources of exposure are expected to relate to our insurance operations, residuals, and loans held for investment," said Stanford L. Kurland, Countrywide's president and chief operating officer. "The company has already established a sophisticated protocol for assessing the damage, but the availability and integrity of data regarding the condition of the affected properties remains problematic at this time." The announcement was made in conjunction with the release of the company's operational results for August, during which Countrywide's mortgage loan servicing portfolio surpassed $1 trillion, an industry milestone. Countrywide can be fund online at http://www.countrywide.com.