Bear Stearns slashes subprime exposure, to write off 1.2 bln dlrs

0 Comments | AFP, November, 2007

NEW YORK (AFP) — Bear Stearns said Wednesday it had slashed its exposure to the US subprime credit crisis and would write off some 1.2 billion dollars in the fourth quarter in mortgage-related investments.

The Wall Street investment bank said its exposure to collateralized debt obligations -- complex vehicles that often include high-risk subprime mortgage debt -- declined to 884 million dollars from 2.07 billion dollars at the end of August.

For the fourth quarter, Bear Stearns expects "lower" results than last year's, the company's chief financial officer, Sam Molinaro, said in a conference call with analysts. He did not provide an estimate of the losses expected due to the investment markdowns.

The 1.2 billion dollars in fourth-quarter writedowns will...