Wells Reports Record Profits

Wells Fargo & Co., San Francisco, has reported record net income of $1.86 billion ($1.08 per share) for the first quarter, up 5% from $1.77 billion ($1.03 per share) a year earlier.Mortgage originations totaled $65 billion. "Home Mortgage saw a strong pick-up in application activity in the quarter, as applications of $91 billion increased 14% over fourth-quarter 2004, and the March 31, 2005 pipeline of $59 billion was up 18% from year-end," said Mark Oman, group executive vice president for home and consumer finance. "The rise in interest rates during the quarter and the growth in the servicing portfolio resulted in an increase in the mortgage servicing rights asset to $9.0 billion, or 1.24% of loans serviced for others, up from 7.9 billion, or 1.15%, at year-end. Reflecting the increase in fair value of the servicing asset, a $271 million reversal of the valuation allowance was realized in the quarter." The company can be found online at http://www.wellsfargo.com.