The fourth-quarter proved a profitable one for many of the subprime market’s largest players, particularly real estate investment trusts. The subprime market’s largest REIT, New Century Financial, reported $78.7 million in net income for the final three months of 2004, up from $74.1 million during the same period in 2003. For all of 2004, New Century posted $375.6 million in net income, up from $245.5 a year earlier. …