MBIA Closer to Business Despite 'Disappointing' 3Q Results

MBIA Inc. said its adjusted pre-tax loss widened to $188 million in the third quarter, from $118 million a year earlier and a $160 million loss in the second quarter. The insurer’s adjusted book value, a non-generally accepted accounting practices measure, fell to $28.68 per share at Sept. 31, from $30.68 per share at December 31.

“Our third quarter financial results were disappointing,” MBIA president and chief financial officer Chuck Chaplin said in a statement Tuesday.

Chaplin attributed the third-quarter performance to losses on insured CMBS exposures and a slowdown of refunding premiums earned as interest rates spiked. The company also had expenses including a $29 million impairment to the value of the MBIA’s headquarters property, Chaplin said.

MBIA’s adjusted pre-tax loss for the nine months ended Sept. 30 was $368 million, compared with a $818 loss by that time last year. MBIA’s bond insurer National Public Finance Guarantee paid its first dividend to MBIA, $214 million, at the start of the fourth quarter of 2014, Chaplin said.

“After years of high loss activity and litigation we’re getting much closer to resuming more normal operations,” Chaplin said. “We’ve begun to reposition National’s investment portfolio from its nearly 40 percent cash position at June 30, and we continue to make good progress in our discussions with the rating agencies regarding National’s rating.”

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