Legg Mason Inc. posted the first quarterly loss in its history Tuesday.
Its net loss for its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended March 31, was $255.5 million, or $1.81 a share. Analysts were expecting an 84-cent loss, according to Thomson Reuters.
For the year-earlier period the Baltimore money manager reported a profit of $172.5 million, or $1.19 a share.
Mark Fetting, Legg Mason's president and chief executive officer, said that it took a $291 million charge related to money market funds exposed to risky securities, and that the loss was wider than expected.
It also took a charge of $94.8 million for a writedown related to "acquired management contracts."
Legg Mason's assets under management fell 3.96%, to $950.1 billion, from a year earlier because of large outflows and market depreciation.
Fixed-income outflows were $7 billion, compared with inflows of $2 billion in the third quarter. But money market funds had inflows of $5 billion, against outflows of $500 million in the third quarter, Legg Mason said.
