FACTBOX-Countrywide CEO long bullish for his company
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - As the mortgage crisis has deepened and spread in 2007, Countrywide Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo has remained confident of long-term success for his company, even as it planned on Friday to cut up to 20 percent of its work force.
Following are quotations from Mozilo during the year.
March 13: "This is now becoming a liquidity crisis, an unnecessary one," Mozilo told CNBC television. "There's been a rush to judgment, an overreaction, a baby out with the bathwater. There's no question about it."
Mozilo said the winnowing of competitors will be "great" for Countrywide, the largest U.S. mortgage lender, which might pick up market share.
April 26: Mozilo said the company should benefit from the weeding out of weak rivals, including many that had "irresponsible" loan standards. Consolidation has been "more rapid than I've ever seen and steeper than I've ever seen," Mozilo said. "As a result, you have less competition ... and rational competition."
May 14: Countrywide says plans to add 2,000 sales jobs this year. "The market is undergoing very turbulent times," Mozilo said. "Our competition continues to consolidate, and consolidate rapidly."
May 21: Mozilo disavows blame for subprime crisis at mortgage-banking industry conference. "You've got to be careful here about blaming ourselves too much," he said. "Regulation ... is better for the crooks because only the good people have to comply," he told a reporter.
Aug 16: Countrywide taps $11.5 billion credit facility to bolster liquidity.
Aug 22: Bank of America invests $2 billion in Countrywide
Aug 23: "I've seen this movie before and the ending of the movie always ends up in some form of recession," Mozilo said in a Reuters interview, adding Bank of America investment was a "priceless endorsement." He added to CNBC: "We're a very solid company."
Sept 7: Countrywide says to cut up to 12,000 jobs or 20 percent of work force. "We have taken decisive action to ensure that the company continues to be well-positioned for further success," Mozilo says in a letter to employees with President Dave Sambol.
"As a result of the market turmoil, many of our competitors have exited the business permanently, which will provide Countrywide with the opportunity to gain greater market share and improve our margins," they said.
(Reporting by Peter Henderson)
