FBR Loses $270M in 4Q

Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group lost $270 million in the fourth quarter and is blaming its performance partly on the bankruptcy of its subprime division, First NLC Financial Services of Florida. For the year, the publicly traded real estate investment trust -- once a major player in the subprime sector -- lost $660 million. On Wednesday, FBRG's affiliate, FBR Capital Markets Corp., posted a $27.8 million loss for the quarter. FBRG is traded on the New York Stock Exchange, FBR Capital on the Nasdaq. (FBRG owns 52% of the affiliate.) In a statement, company president Rock Tonkel said the firm has "eliminated" most of its subprime whole-loan mortgages and on-balance-sheet residuals. Its exposure in this asset category is roughly $30 million. The REIT is putting its available cash into agency-quality mortgage-backed securities. It had $1.1 billion invested in MBS at the end of December.