MF Global Ltd., a futures and options broker, said Thursday its fiscal fourth-quarter loss widened due to a goodwill impairment charge and declining revenue.
MF Global's net loss after paying preferred dividends grew to $119.4 million, or 98 cents per share, during the quarter ended March 31, compared with a loss of $83.1 million, or 69 cents per share, during the same quarter last year.
The company's adjusted loss, which excludes special items such as an $82 million non-cash goodwill impairment charge, totaled $17.4 million, or 5 cents per share, during the quarter.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, forecast earnings of 7 cents per share for the quarter. Analysts typically exclude special charges from their estimates.
Net revenue fell to $256.7 million from $407.9 million during the year-ago period. Analysts had forecast revenue of $300.2 million for the quarter.
Sharp declines in cleared commissions and interest income were the main factors behind the drop in revenue. Cleared commissions revenue fell 46 percent to $237.8 million during the fiscal fourth quarter. Interest income tumbled 84 percent to $99.8 million during the quarter, though some of that decline was offset by declining interest expense.
"Similar to every other financial services company, we were tested by the difficult business environment including near-zero interest rate levels and global declines in volume," Bernard Dan, MF Global's chief executive, said in a statement.
The company continued to shrink its balance sheet amid the ongoing market turmoil and global economic downturn. The company said it has shrunk its balance sheet by 40 percent over the past 15 months.
For the full year, MF Global lost $69.2 million, or 57 cents per share, compared with a loss of $69.5 million, or 60 cents per share, during the previous fiscal year.
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