NEW YORK - July 17, 2008 - Merrill Lynch is expected to
unveil its fourth quarterly loss in a row when it publishes its much-awaited
results for the three months to June today.
The results - which are being published on the first anniversary of the start of the credit crisis, when Bear Stearns' $6bn (£3bn) hedge funds collapsed - are expected to show continued losses as the broker struggles to sell off sub-prime assets.
Loss per share estimates range from 20 cents at JP Morgan to $4.21 from Oppenheimer's Meredith Whitney.
Although analysts remain divided as to the size of loss, all agree that it will be driven by the size of the writedowns - which could be as much as $6bn - as the bank reduces the carrying value of leveraged loans, sub-prime related holdings and other assets hit by the credit crisis.
The bank has already taken $30bn of writedowns since the crisis began, and has raised $15.5bn in fresh capital.