Wells Reports Record 1Q Profits

Wells Fargo & Co., San Francisco, has reported record net income of $1.49 billion ($0.88 per share) in the first quarter, up 8% from $1.38 billion ($0.80 per share) a year earlier.Wells Fargo's mortgage origination volume totaled $103 billion in the first quarter, the second-highest level in the company's history, and the mortgage pipeline ended the quarter at $89 billion, up 29% from the year-end level, the company said. The owned servicing portfolio totaled $552 billion at March 31. "Since March 31, 2002, the owned servicing portfolio is up $95 billion, the weighted average note for the portfolio has declined 62 basis points to 6.45%, and the value of the residential and commercial mortgage servicing rights has been reduced by over $2.9 billion to $4.2 billion," said Mark Oman, Wells Fargo's group executive vice president for home and consumer finance. The company can be found online at http://www.wellsfargo.com.