Wells Earnings Up Despite Lower Mortgage Volume

Wells Fargo & Co. earned a record $1.8 billion ($1.04 per share) in the fourth quarter, up 10% from its earnings in the fourth quarter of 2003.But the mortgage unit saw its contribution to earnings decline from the record-setting 2003 performance, with Wells Fargo reporting origination volume of $87.7 billion in first mortgages and $52.2 billion in second mortgages during the quarter. For the full year, Wells Fargo originated $298 billion of residential mortgages, down 37% from the industry record of $470 billion the company set in 2003. The Wells Fargo owned mortgage servicing portfolio reached $805 billion, up 13% from that of 2003, the company said. Wells Fargo said the carrying value of its mortgage servicing rights totaled $7.9 billion at year-end, or 1.15% of loans serviced. That is up from an MSR valuation of $6.9 billion at the end of 2003. The company can be found on the Internet at www.wellsfargo.com.