The boss' management strategy. (The Briefing).COUNTRYWIDE coun·try·wide adv. & adj. Throughout a whole country; nationwide: launched a fundraising campaign countrywide; a countrywide search. Adj. 1. Credit Industries is reaping the benefits of the current and continuing refinancing Refinancing An extension and/or increase in amount of existing debt. boom. With low interest rates and more customers, the company's 2001 net income jumped 18.5 percent over the previous year. Thus, Countrywide President Stanford L. Kurland faced the tough challenge of managing a company growing and diversifying quickly. Over the last four years, Kurland has pursued a diversification Diversification A risk management technique that mixes a wide variety of investments within a portfolio. It is designed to minimize the impact of any one security on overall portfolio performance. Notes: Diversification is possibly the greatest way to reduce the risk. program that has moved the company into new markets, making it less vulnerable to interest rate changes. Kurland discussed these and other challenges with Business Journal reporter Carlos Martinez. "Countrywide's challenge is to emerge from the 2001 refinance Refinance 1. When a business or person revises their payment schedule for repaying debt. 2. Replacing an older loan with a new loan offering better terms. Notes: When a business refinances they typically extend the maturity date. boom, avoiding any adverse effects experienced during the 1998 (refinance) boom. Our goal was to demonstrate Countrywide's ability to sustain earnings growth in a post-finance environment. "In recent years, we have initiated a strategy that anticipates, moderates and offsets the cyclical cyclical Of or relating to a variable, such as housing starts, car sales, or the price of a certain stock, that is subject to regular or irregular up-and-down movements. throes throe n. 1. A severe pang or spasm of pain, as in childbirth. See Synonyms at pain. 2. throes A condition of agonizing struggle or trouble: a country in the throes of economic collapse. of our core mortgage business. Countrywide is positioned to provide greater earnings stability through various interest rate environments. "These initiatives -- including banking, insurance, capital markets and global ventures -- accounted for 22 percent of our pre-tax earnings last year and are poised to meet our goal of 50 percent of earnings by 2006. As Countrywide continues to evolve, the mortgage-centric businesses are positioned to perform more strongly and steadily this year than they have in previous post-boom periods. "Housing is leading the nation's economic recovery and the traditional peak season for home sales is just beginning. This could be a record year for home purchases and all Countrywide production divisions have well-developed plans for increasing market share. "As more consumers adopted the Web as the preferred sales channel, Countrywide learned many critical lessons. Countrywide has worked diligently dil·i·gent adj. Marked by persevering, painstaking effort. See Synonyms at busy. [Middle English, from Old French, from Latin d to simplify the loan application process over the Web (and) the response to these efforts is evident in the tremendous growth within Countrywide's e-commerce e-commerce, commerce conducted over the Internet, most often via the World Wide Web. E-commerce can apply to purchases made through the Web or to business-to-business activities such as inventory transfers. sector. "Currently, e-commerce fundings represent nearly 50 percent of Countrywide's total loan fundings." * Have Story To Tell? Please write to Editor, The Briefing 21300 Victory Blvd, Suite 205 Woodland Hills, CA 91367 (818) 676-1747 (Fax) Or e-mail us at mhart@sfvbj.com |
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