Wells Fargo Reports 2Q Profits

Wells Fargo & Co., the nation's second-largest mortgage servicer, reported net income of $1.71 billion ($1.00 per share) in the second quarter, up 12% from $1.53 billion ($0.90 per share) a year earlier.Mortgage originations in its community banking segment totaled $96 billion in the second quarter, an increase of $31 billion from the level recorded in the first quarter, the company said. "With higher interest rates during the quarter, application activity dropped to $100 billion," said Mark Oman, group executive vice president for home and consumer finance. "Reflecting the decline in applications, the mortgage application pipeline ended the quarter at $57 billion, down $15 billion from March 31, 2004, although purchase-mortgage volume remained at or above expectations." The company owned a portfolio of mortgage servicing rights on $749 billion of home loans as of June 30, up 18% from that of a year earlier. Wells Fargo valued its MSR portfolio at $8.5 billion, up from $6.9 billion at the end of 2003. The San Francisco-based company can be found online at http://www.wellsfargo.com.