Countrywide's 1Q Earnings Up 95%

Countrywide Financial Corp., Calabasas, Calif., has reported record earnings of $326 million ($2.44 per share) for the first quarter, up 95% from $168 million ($1.32 per share) a year earlier.Pretax earnings by the company's mortgage banking operations totaled $354 million in the first quarter, up 85% from $192 million in the first quarter of 2002. "This marks the second consecutive quarter in which fundings surpassed the $100 billion mark and exceeded loan portfolio prepayments by over $50 billion," said Angelo R. Mozilo, Countrywide's chairman and chief executive officer. "Our servicing portfolio has surpassed $500 billion, driven almost exclusively by our internal production efforts." The servicing portfolio stood at $355 billion in March 2002. Mr. Mozilo also pointed to the expansion of the company's new business lines, which achieved pretax earnings of $170 million in the first quarter, representing 32% of total pretax earnings. The company can be found online at http://www.countrywide.com.