Struggling US investment bank Lehman Brothers has reported net losses of $3.9 billion for the third quarter of this year. The results were brought forward by a week after the bank's shares fell by 45% on Wall Street last night.
Lehman has been affected by the US housing crisis and credit crunch and has been looking to raise funds to help rebuild its financial position. The bank has had to write off $17 billion in risky investments, and announced a further $7.8 billion of write-offs for the third quarter.
As well as its results, Lehman announced a number of other measures, including the spin-off of its commercial property portfolio into a separate company and the sale of a majority stake in its investment division. The bank is also in talks to sell $4 billion of its UK residential mortgage assets.
Analysts had expected more hefty losses after an unprecedented second-quarter loss of $2.8 billion.
Earlier, South Korea's state-run Korea Development Bank abandoned negotiations about buying a stake in Lehman Brothers. KDB has been reported to be seeking to take a controlling stake in Lehman Brothers for about $6 billion.
The Korean bank blamed disagreement over terms of a deal and financial market conditions for its decision.
