The Financial Times helpfully points out that in eighteen months Merrill Lynch has managed to wipe out a quarter of its inflation adjusted profits earned over 36 years as a listed company…
Since the onset of the credit crunch
last year, Merrill has suffered after-tax losses of more than $14bn as its
balance sheet has been savaged by almost $52bn in writedowns and credit-related
losses.Merrill’s total inflation-adjusted profits between its 1971 listing and 2006
were about $56bn, according to figures from Thomson Reuters Fundamentals and an
FT analysis of reported earnings.The $14bn in losses for 2007 and the first two quarters of 2008 equal half of
Merrill’s profits since the beginning of the decade.
Merrill losses wipe away longtime profits – Financial Times
Tags: Credit Crunch, Merrill Lynch
