FBR Ends 2005 in the Red

Investment banking firm Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group lost $170.9 million in 2005, with a previously disclosed write-down of its mortgage-backed securities portfolio serving as the main cause of the company's disappointing results.Friedman, Billings, Ramsey said that write downs and losses in the company's MBS and merchant banking portfolios totaled $261.6 million in the fourth quarter. The breakdown of those losses included $180.1 million in write downs, net of hedging gains, related to the MBS portfolio; $7 million of realized losses on MBS; and $74.5 million recognized in the write-down of nine equity investments to reflect "other than temporary" impairments in the merchant banking portfolio." Also contributing to FBR's weakness in the fourth quarter was a $15.5 million loss at First NLC Financial services, a wholly owned non-conforming mortgage lending subsidiary of FBR.