WaMu Cites B&C in Expected Hit of Nearly $1B

Washington Mutual, Seattle, says its third-quarter net income will likely fall by 75% because of subprime and home equity-related writedowns of almost $1 billion.WaMu, the nation's largest thrift, anticipates not only chargeoffs in its loans "held-for-sale" account, but also securities trading losses of $150 million and an impairment charge of $110 million on investment-grade mortgage-backed securities. In a new research note, Credit Suisse called WaMu's exposure to higher credit risk "outsized." CS says WaMu "is far from being out of the woods," adding that, "We expect the trend of higher NPAs [nonperforming assets]" to persist through 2008. According to the Quarterly Data Report, WaMu is the nation's 13th-largest subprime servicer. with $45 billion in receivables.