By Elizabeth Hester
Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Countrywide Financial Corp., the biggest U.S. mortgage company, rose as much as 10 percent on the New York Stock Exchange after the company said it has $12 billion in borrowing capacity through new and existing credit lines.
The stock, which has lost more than half its value this year, climbed $1.35 to $17.97 at 10:04 a.m. after reaching $18.31 earlier today.
Countrywide, based in Calabasas, California, last month borrowed $11.5 billion from bank credit lines and accelerated a plan to fund mortgages through its thrift unit. The company "recently arranged for $12 billion in additional secured borrowing capacity through new or existing credit facilities,'' Countrywide said today in a statement.
Those steps "should substantially address funding concerns,'' a team of Credit Suisse Group analysts led by Moshe Orenbuch wrote in a research note today. They rate the stock "outperform.''
Countrywide said last week it would eliminate as many as 12,000 employees, or 20 percent of its workforce. Lending last month totaled $34 billion and applications fell 12 percent from August 2006, the company said in the statement. About $52 billion of applications were being processed as of Aug. 31, a 19 percent drop.
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