Merrill Lynch Posts $1.96B Loss; Announces 4,000 Job Cuts

[OhioChick]

Thursday, Apr. 17 2008

Merrill Lynch posted yet another quarterly loss on Thursday as the brokerage house continued to suffer under the weight of subprime mortgages and other complicated investments.

Merrill (MER) said it lost $1.96 billion, or $2.19 a share, compared to a year-ago profit of $2.11 billion, or $2.26 a share. The loss stemmed mainly from $6.6 billion in new write downs by the brokerage house. The loss was slightly less than Wall Street’s expectations of $1.99 a share.

"Despite this quarter's loss, Merrill Lynch's underlying businesses produced solid results in a difficult market environment," said chairman and chief executive John Thain in a statement.

Combined with the loss, the brokerage house said it would cut an additional 2,900 jobs by the end of the year, on top of the 1,100 jobs they cut already, according to FOX Business reporter Elizabeth MacDonald.


http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/industries/finance/article/hit-merrill-losses-job-cuts_566673_9.html