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PAUL SAKUMA / Associated Press
Countrywide office in San Mateo, Calif. The nation's largest mortgage lender reported a surgein December in the delinquency and foreclosure rate on home loans in its portfolio.
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Big mortgage lender's shares drop a 2d day
LOS ANGELES - Countrywide Financial Corp.'s shares tumbled for the second day yesterday after the nation's largest mortgage lender said the delinquency and foreclosure rate on home loans in its portfolio surged in December.
The news drove shares down more than 6 percent on the New York Stock Exchange.
The company said 6.96 percent of the loans in its servicing portfolio were delinquent last month, compared with 5.02 percent in December 2006.
About 1.04 percent of the mortgage loans were pending foreclosure, up from 0.65 percent.
Meanwhile, loan fundings during December rose 1 percent from the previous month, ahead of internal forecasts.
The company said it financed $24 billion in loans during the month, giving it a total of $69 billion for the fourth quarter.
Countrywide also reported that its banking operations had assets of $113 billion at the end of December, compared with $83 billion at the end of November.
Management pointed to the slight increase in loan fundings - the value of mortgage loans it wrote - and rising bank deposits as evidence the company was heading in the right direction.
"Our fourth quarter ended with a number of positive operational trends," Countrywide's president and chief operating officer, David Sambol, said in a statement. "Management is pleased with the progress we have made in positioning the company to navigate the current challenging environment."
But its shares fell 35 cents to close at $5.12 yesterday. The drop followed a loss of $2.17, or 28.4 percent, Tuesday.
The Calabasas, Calif., company previously reported a $1.2 billion loss for the third quarter of last year, but management has forecast a profitable fourth quarter and 2008.
