Countrywide CEO confident of lender's success

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Countrywide Financial Corp CFC.N Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo on Friday said the largest U.S. mortgage lender has a "much better chance of success" than any other company in the mortgage sector, after going through a rocky August.

Referring to capital markets, he said "there has been, in my opinion, a significant structural change in the market, a permanent structural change. ... Nothing was being priced to risk, in any form of debt, and I think that game is over.... Liquidity will return, but not in the manner it was before."

Mozilo added: "With the quality of the management team, the focus that we have, the mission that we're on, I think we have a much better chance of success than any other player in the mortgage space today."

Earlier Friday, Countrywide reported a $1.2 billion third-quarter loss, but forecast a return to profit in the fourth quarter and in 2008. Countrywide shares were up more than 30 percent in early afternoon trading.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel)