The end-of-year boom in mortgage loan production may have wreaked havoc with servicing portfolios, but early indicators suggest that it also spelled more profit for lenders. A new Inside Mortgage Profitability analysis of earnings reports from the top three producers in the U.S. shows that the group’s total mortgage banking profits climbed from an estimated $3.53 billion in 2001 to $5.51 billion in 2002 – a gain of 56 percent.