Several of the largest privately-held mortgage banking companies saw significant declines in profitability last year, according to a new Inside Mortgage Profitability analysis of financial statements. A group of six private mortgage companies reported a combined $398.7 million in net earnings for 2005, down 72.5 percent from their performance the prior year. Although two of the firms actually showed very positive gains in profitability, the group as a whole was weighed down by a sharp… [One data table included]