More Pain At Merrill Lynch

$25 Billion write down for sub-prime mortgages and 4,000 people laid off. (click here for full story from the NY Times). Here is an excerpt:

Merrill knows the pain firsthand. On Thursday Merrill announced a total write-down of $9.7 billion, including $3.1 billion of write-downs that were not included in the bank’s income statement. The write-downs are on top of $25 billion taken in the second half of last year, and there could be more to come.

Merrill also said that it would lay off an additional 2,900 people, on top of the 1,100 jobs already eliminated this year. The bank lost $1.96 billion, or $2.20 a share, in the first three months, a sharp contrast to a profit of $2.10 billion during the period a year ago. Revenue, including interest and dividends, was $2.9 billion — down 69 percent from a year ago.