Merrill Lynch posts first quarter loss

The Merrill Lynch headquarters in New York in a file photo. Merrill Lynch on Thursday posted a first quarter loss, after taking several billion dollars of writedowns for subprime mortgages and other risky assets. (REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Merrill Lynch & Co Inc <MER.N> on Thursday posted a first quarter loss, after taking several billion dollars of writedowns for subprime mortgages and other risky assets.

The world's largest brokerage said the first quarter net loss was $1.96 billion, or $2.19 a share, compared with net income of $2.16 billion, or $2.26 a share, in the same quarter last year.

Merrill Lynch had already recorded more than $24 billion of writedowns in previous quarters. Those charges spurred Merrill Lynch to raise more than $12 billion of new capital. Chief Executive John Thain said earlier this month he did not expect the investment bank to raise more capital in the foreseeable future.

Merrill Lynch's shares were down 16.4 percent between the end of 2007 and Wednesday's close, compared with a roughly 25 percent decline for the broker-dealer sector as measured by the Amex securities broker-dealer index.

(Reporting by Christopher Kaufman and Dan Wilchins; Editing by Derek Caney)