NEW YORK — Bear Stearns said Thursday a bigger- than-expected write-down in its mortgage portfolio caused the nation’s fifth-largest U.S. investment bank to post the first loss in its 84-year history.
It took a $1.9 billion write-down in the quarter ended Nov. 30 as its mortgage-backed securities continued to lose value amid the global credit crisis. That was much larger than the $1.2 billion it expected in November.
Bear Stearns’ fiscal fourth-quarter loss and the collapse of two hedge funds it managed during the summer prompted chief executive Jimmy Cayne and members of the company’s executive committee to pass on 2007 bonuses.
“We are obviously upset with our 2007 results, particularly in light of the fact that weakness in fixed income more than offset strong and, in some areas, record-setting performance in other businesses,” Cayne, below, said in a statement.
The fiscal fourth-quarter loss after paying preferred dividends was $859 million, or $6.90 per share, compared to a profit of $558 million, or $4 per share, a year earlier. The company had negative net revenue of $379 million, compared with revenue of $2.41 billion a year earlier.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had expected a loss of $1.79 per share on $625.1 million of revenue for the quarter.
The Associated Press
