Countrywide Credit’s Net Income Rises 22%

Countrywide Credit Industries Inc., the largest U.S. publicly traded mortgage lender, said fiscal third-quarter net income rose 22%, beating analysts’ expectations, as the company’s new loans hit a record. Calabasas-based Countrywide said net income in the quarter ended Nov. 30 rose to $97.97 million, or 84 cents a share, from $80.18 million, or 71 cents, a year earlier. Analysts expected the lender to earn 82 cents. Its shares rose $1.88 to close at $48.13 on the NYSE. Countrywide, which makes new loans and collects payments for existing loans, said it lent a record $24 billion in the quarter, almost double the new loans a year earlier.