Business

No luck for Leucadia: FXCM loses a bundle

FXCM, the brokerage almost undone earlier this year by an unprecedented move in currency markets, reported a net loss of $9.06 a share in the first quarter.

Wall Street was expecting a loss of 1 cent.

In January, the Swiss central bank had removed a floor for its currency, catching currency traders off-guard and leading to huge swings in the currency market.

Leucadia National, the parent company of investment bank Jefferies, saved FXCM through a $300 million loan, though the deal was called “punitive” at the time because it restricted how the loan could be paid back and increased the interest rate if it wasn’t paid back early.

Leucadia, in a Friday filing, valued its loan at $947 million — more than three times the original value — reflecting the likelihood that FXCM will pay the company back.

FXCM still has $265.3 million in bad debt related to the currency move, plus another $292.4 million it owes to Leucadia, it said.

Shares for FXCM fell as much as 9.3 percent in after-hours trading to about $1.95.