The business stories that matter, by Fortune's Colin Barr
Type Size  -  +
May 12, 2008, 6:56 am

MBIA loses $2.4 billion

MBIA (MBI) posted another big loss. The bond insurer lost $2.4 billion, or $13.03 a share, for the first quarter ended March 31, compared with the year-ago profit of $199 million, or $1.46 a share. The latest quarter included a $3.6 billion mark-to-market writedown on MBIA’s insured credit default swap portfolio. The news, which follows a $2.3 billion fourth-quarter loss, comes a week after CEO Jay Brown insisted the company doesn’t need new capital and warned shareholders that the company was struggling to arrive at a valuation for the insured credit default swap portfolio. “I can tell you with great certainty that no two people could ever agree on this calculation,” he wrote, “so don’t be surprised when external sources propose wildly different possibilities for MBIA.” Brown is due to host a conference call at 2 p.m. EST, so the external sources may have their say then. MBIA shares fell 12% in early trading Monday to $8.30.

CNNMoney.com Comment Policy: CNNMoney.com encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You may not post any unlawful, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic or other material that would violate the law. Please note that CNNMoney.com may edit comments for clarity or to keep out questionable or off-topic material. All comments should be relevant to the post and remain respectful of other authors and commenters. By submitting your comment, you hereby give CNNMoney.com the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, cablecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comment(s) and accompanying personal identifying information via all forms of media now known or hereafter devised, worldwide, in perpetuity. CNNMoney.com Privacy Statement.
Colin Barr covers business and finance for Fortune.com. Previously he was an editor at TheStreet.com and author of the weekly Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street column, and an editor at Dow Jones Newswires.
Subscribe to Daily Briefing: RSS feed | email newsletter
* : Time reflects local markets trading time.† - Intraday data delayed 15 minutes for Nasdaq, and 20 minutes for other exchanges.• Disclaimer
Powered by WordPress.com.