Wells Fargo & Co. made cuts in its mortgage unit in the second quarter, reducing headcount slightly versus the first quarter this year.
The San Francisco-based lender reduced the number of people on payroll by 3,600 in the three months ended June 30, a 1.3% decrease from the first quarter, bringing total staff to 266,600, according to its quarterly earnings release this morning.
Most of the reductions came in the form of cuts in the mortgage origination unit, according to spokeswoman Mary Eshet. The firm wrote only $64 billion worth of mortgages in the quarter, a 24% decrease from the first quarter this year. Wells Fargo has been pulling back on new mortgage origination; in the first three months of the year, it cut 2,500 workers in the unit.
The company set aside $34 million less in salaries and commissions in the quarter, compared with the year-earlier period, a 0.6% reduction.
In today's second-quarter earnings report, Wells Fargo reported a profit of $3.95 billion, up from $3.06 billion in the second quarter of 2010, a 29% increase.
Revenue in the quarter fell 4.7% versus the year-earlier period.
BofA and BNY Both Hire
Bank of America added about 600 wealth advisors in the second quarter versus the first quarter, growing the number it employs to 17,817. The firm's total headcount, 287,839, was virtually unchanged.
The bank, however, reported less bullish financial results this morning, swinging to a second-quarter loss of $8.8 billion versus a $3.12 billion profit in the second quarter of 2010.
Meanwhile, BNY Mellon grew headcount by about 500 in the second quarter versus the first, bringing its total to 48,900. The New York-based firm reported a profit of $735 million, a 12% increase from the second quarter last year and better than analyst expectations.
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