Washington Mutual is a key mortgage lender in the US
|
Leading US mortgage lender Washington Mutual has posted a quarterly loss following a rise in defaults on loans.
The firm saw a loss of $3.3bn (£1.6bn) in the three months to June, compared with a $830m profit last year.
The firm has suffered from rising defaults on its mortgage loan book and reported a $3.74bn rise of loan-loss reserves to $8.46bn in the period.
The losses comes in the wake of a slowing housing market and limited availability of credit.
In total the company is predicting total losses related to its residential mortgage portfolio will reach $19bn.
The firm said it would leave the wholesale lending market and eliminate all stand-alone home loan outfits, causing 3,000 job cuts.
Such steps are part of wider plans to save some $1bn by year end in a bid to bolster the firm's balance sheet.
A number of other leading US regional banks have also announced large losses in the credit crunch in recent weeks,.
The head of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, has repeatedly warned of continuing weakness in the banking sector due to the effects of the credit crunch.
|
One-Minute World News
~RS~a~RS~International~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~55~RS~){kind=small}
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~55~RS~)
E-mail this to a friend
Printable version
Opposition protests at prayers
© MMIX
Bookmark with:
What are these?