Record loan originations and earnings
By MortgageDaily.com staff
4/18/2002

In its announcement of first quarter earnings, banking giant Washington Mutual, Inc. said it had record loan volume of $65.27 billion, including $59.16 billion in single-family residential (SFR) mortgage loan production. Mortgage loans were 187% higher than the first quarter of last year and 8% better than the fourth quarter. The company attributed the increase in loan volume to a 29 percent rise in adjustable-rate mortgage volume over the fourth quarter.

Washington Mutual said SFR loan volume led to a strong gain from SFR mortgage loans of $231 million, compared with the fourth quarter's record gain of $287 million. The company said during the quarter it recorded an increase in mortgage servicing rights of $1.71 billion, reflecting the acquisition of Dime, strong loan origination volume and slightly lower loan payoff volume.

The company said it recently converted the loan servicing records of the former mortgage operations of Fleet Financial, Inc. Washington Mutual, which was recently named as a defendant in a class-action relating to servicing issues, said that while a few post-conversion activities remain to be completed, it anticipates a successful integration.

Earnings reported for the first quarter of 2002 include results of the former Dime Bancorp, Inc., which Washington Mutual acquired on January 4, and results of the former operations of HomeSide Lending, Inc., which Washington Mutual acquired in an asset acquisition on March 1.

Washington Mutual reported record quarterly earnings of $950 million, or 98 cents per diluted share, for the quarter, up 29 percent on a per share basis from $641 million, or 76 cents per diluted share for the same period a year ago.

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