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NEW YORK - Countrywide Financial, the largest US mortgage lender, said yesterday it has added nearly 5800 jobs this year as the housing slump claims dozens of smaller rivals, but its shares fell on concern that surging defaults and foreclosures would cut earnings.
Pending foreclosures as a percentage of outstanding loans more than doubled in June from a year earlier.
"It's definitely a worrying trend," said Stuart Plesser, an analyst at Standard & Poor's who rates Countrywide a "hold".
Countrywide said expected foreclosures as a percentage of unpaid principal balances rose to 0.96 per cent from 0.45 per cent a year earlier, and rose from 0.9 per cent in May.
Analysts said Countrywide now makes 18 per cent of US home loans, after first-half mortgage lending rose 9 per cent to US$245.13 billion ($313 billion).
Countrywide said June home loans rose 4 per cent from a year earlier to US$45.26 billion, though subprime loans for people with weak credit sank 55 per cent to US$1.85 billion.
New Century Financial, once the largest independent subprime lender, is liquidating in bankruptcy.
General Electric on Friday said it planned to sell its WMC Mortgage subprime unit.
- REUTERS
