New York  -  US financial concern Merrill Lynch reported Thursday it suffered a net loss from continuing operations of 1.97 billion dollars in the first quarter of 2008 in what it called a "challenging environment" and major write-downs.

The red ink figures, coming in the aftermath of the subprime mortgage crisis in the US, compared with net earnings of 2. l6 billion dollars in the first quarter of last year.

The net loss for the period was 1.96 billion dollars, the company said, while the loss which includes preferred stock dividends came to 2.14 billion dollars. In the first quarter last year, the preferred stock dividends figure showed a profit of 2.11 billion dollars.

A company statement said that "in this challenging market environment, which continued to deteriorate during the quarter, first-quarter 2008 net revenues were 2.9 billion dollars, down 69 per cent from the prior-year period, primarily due to net write-downs totalling 1.5 billion dollars ... and credit valuation adjustments of negative 3.0 billion dollars."

Excluding these factors, Merrill Lynch's statement said, net revenues were 7.4 billion dollars, down 26 per cent from the first quarter of 2007.

John A. Thain, company chairman and chief executive officer, commented, "Despite this quarter's loss, Merrill Lynch's underlying businesses produced solid results in a difficult market environment."

He noted that the company had 82 billion dollars in excess liquidity, increasing from end-2007 levels, "and we remain well capitalized. In addition, our global franchise is positioned strongly for the future, and we continue to invest in key growth areas and regions."

In a step to improve its situation, Merrill Lynch announced plans to cut 4,000 jobs. (dpa)