Sovereign Bancorp (SOV)

[bigblue72]

Earnings Ouch!!!

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Sovereign Bancorp Inc. (SOV:
Sovereign Bancorp Inc

SOV 3.68, -0.13, -3.4%) , parent company of Sovereign Bank, late Monday said it swung to a third-quarter net loss of $982 million, $1.48 a share, from a net income of $58.2 million, or 11 cents a share in the third-quarter in 2007. The loss includes impairment charge related to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac perpetual preferred stock of $575 million and a loss of $602 million related to the sale of its entire portfolio of collateralized debt obligations, said the bank holding company. "Excluding the after-tax impact of the aforementioned investment losses, Sovereign still generated net income of $41.3 million even after recording a provision for credit losses of $304 million, an increase of $141.5 million from the same period a year ago," said Sovereign in a statement. Sovereign released its third-quarter results ahead of schedule after announcing that Banco Santander will buy a 75.65% stake in Sovereign for about $1.9 billion in a stock-for-stock deal. End of Story