Some Good News: Wells Earns $2B in 1Q

Wells Fargo & Co. -- which is poised to unseat Countrywide Home Loans as the nation's largest residential lender -- posted a $2 billion profit in the first quarter on record revenue of $10.6 billion. It originated $61 billion in single-family loans during the quarter, a 7% gain from the volume of a year earlier. Its servicing portfolio increased to $1.53 trillion, up 10% from March of last year. The banking giant's strong performance came despite a 16% sequential increase in its portfolio of nonperforming loans. At the end of March, the San Francisco-based Wells had $4.5 billion in NPLs, including $658 million worth of foreclosed and repossessed real estate and auto loans. It had $314 million of first-lien residential mortgages that were 90 days or more past due and another $228 million in late second-lien mortgages. A year ago it held $223 million in late firsts and seconds. Wells is also the largest player in the FHA/VA market. At March 31, it was saddled with $578 million of insured Ginnie Mae repurchases.