Share prices for the Countrywide Financial Corporation (NYSE: CFC) edged up slightly today after the company reported on its operational results for May 2007.According to the press release, the company’s mortgage loan fundings for May totaled an amazing $44 billion – a 15 percent increase in the company’s loan fundings for May 2006. In addition, the company’s average daily mortgage loan application activity was up 17 percent from May of last year to a total of $3.1 million, and the mortgage loan pipeline was $70 billion in 2007 as opposed to $66 billion in 2006. Plus, the mortgage loan servicing portfolio for the company increased $214 billion this year to a total of $1.4 trillion.
“Countrywide-generated robust residential mortgage production results for the month of May,” Countrywide CEO and President David Sambol said in the release. “Production trends included a 17 percent increase in home purchase activity from the prior month; fixed-rate mortgages accounted for 76 percent of monthly production, their highest percentage since August 2003; and the pipeline of mortgage loans-in-process ended the month at $70 billion, its highest amount since October 2005.
“Strong results were produced by our other businesses. The servicing portfolio increased 18 percent from May 2006 and Banking Operations’ assets rose 9 percent year-over-year,” Sambol continued. “On a year-to-date basis, Capital Markets securities trading volume increased 4 percent from the five months ended May 2006, and net-earned premiums from our Insurance segment rose 22 percent from the same year-ago period.”
A diversified financial services company focused primarily on real estate finance and related activities, Countrywide is dedicated to helping individuals and families achieve and preserve the dream of home ownership. Today, this cornerstone principle continues to guide and drive all of our business decisions. It has also produced a high-performance, high-integrity culture that’s unique to the industry.