MBIA said today unrealized losses on insured derivatives skyrocketed in the first quarter, pushing the world's largest bond insurer into a sharp quarterly loss.
The company posted a loss of $2.41 billion, or $13.03 per share, versus a profit of $199 million, or $1.46 per share, in the year-earlier quarter.
The 2008 figure included unrealized losses on insured derivatives, such as credit default swaps, of $3.58 billion. Factoring in the unrealized losses, MBIA reported negative revenue of $2.95 billion, versus revenue of $729.9 million a year before.
Analysts polled by Reuters Estimates had expected a quarterly loss of 11 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates. Excluding unrealized losses, Reuters Estimates said MBIA earned 16 cents per share, but it was not immediately clear how closely that figure matched up with analysts' forecast.
In February, MBIA warned investors it could face write-downs on its credit derivative positions.
It recorded $3.7 billion of losses from the change in credit derivatives' value in all of 2007, which resulted in net losses for the year of $1.9 billion.
MBIA has raised more then $2.5 billion of capital from investors to help offset those losses and has taken other measures to boost capital, such as eliminating its dividend.
Earlier this month, MBIA Chairman and Chief Executive Jay Brown wrote to investors that he saw no need to "raise dilutive equity capital to support our existing business plans."