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| So far this year, mortgage originations are up more than three-quarters at Wells Fargo & Co.During January and February, mortgage originations added up to $59.0 billion, the San Francisco-based institution announced today.
The monthly average for the first two months of 2009 was $29.5 billion. In the fourth-quarter 2008, the monthly average was $16.7 billion, according to earnings data from January. The fourth quarter included production from Wachovia Corp., which Wells acquired on Dec. 31. This year’s activity is 77 percent higher than the fourth-quarter average. “Operating results for the first two months of the year are strong,” Wells President and Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf said in the statement. “Our ability to grow market share in this environment and to benefit from new business opportunities remains second to none.” For all of last year, the monthly average was $19.2 billion — though combined full-year mortgage volume for Wells and Wachovia was a monthly average of $22.5 billion during all of 2008. Still, this year’s activity is up nearly one-third from the combined 2008 monthly average. Mortgage applications during January and February were $107 billion — not far from the $116 billion in new applications generated during the entire fourth quarter. Wells also said in today’s announcement that it would slash its quarterly dividend 85 percent to five cents so that it could conserve $5 billion in common equity annually. Shares of Wells Fargo — which have tumbled from $44.30 in September 2008 to a 52-week low of $7.80 yesterday — reacted favorable to today’s announcement and were up $0.56 near midday to $8.68. |
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