Arlington, Virginia-based Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group Inc. (FBR Group), an investment banking platform, said challenges at one of its nonprime lending subsidiaries caused the company to experience $185.9 million in after-tax losses during the first quarter of 2007.

In the company’s official 2007 first quarter report, it attributes most of the recent losses to its wholly-owned nonprime origination platform, First NLC Financial Services (FNLC). According to the company’s first quarter report, FNLC experienced a net after-tax loss of $124.2 million.
“This has been an extremely difficult operating environment for the entire non-prime mortgage banking industry, and it has resulted in a series of distressed sales and bankruptcies,” said Eric F. Billings, chairman and chief executive officer of FBR Group. “We believe that FNLC’s management has taken aggressive steps designed to limit foreseeable major risks with respect to the business.”
FBR Group says it continues to purse strategic opportunities for FNLC, including a possible sale or third-party recapitalization of the nonprime origination platform.
Click here to read the FBR Group’s complete first quarter report.