Wells' Profits Rise Despite Mortgage Falloff

Wells Fargo & Co., San Francisco, has reported record net income of $2.02 billion ($1.19 per share) for the first quarter, up 9% from $1.86 billion ($1.08 per share) a year earlier, despite a revenue plunge at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.Home Mortgage revenue totaled $853 million, down $665 million from $1.5 billion in the first quarter of 2005, Wells Fargo reported. Mortgage originations totaled $91 billion in the first quarter, up 40% from the first quarter of 2005. "While we have seen a slowdown in refinancing activity, the purchase market where we are the leading lender remained historically strong," said Mark Oman, senior executive vice president in the Wells Home and Consumer Finance Group. "We also saw double-digit growth in our trillion-dollar owned servicing portfolio." The portfolio stood at $1.04 trillion as of March 31, up 24% from that of a year earlier. The company can be found online at http://www.wellsfargo.com.