Bear Stearns says it will not be able to file its quarterly report for the period ended February 29 on time, but assures it will do so by the April 14 extended deadline.
The embattled investment bank, which has agreed to be acquired by JPMorgan Chase, says its liquidity crisis and executing the merger agreement have disrupted its normal reporting process. The delay could not be eliminated “without unreasonable expense or effort,” it adds.
Earnings for the February fiscal quarter will be “significantly lower” than last year, Bear Stearns said in a regulatory filing. It explained that the continuing global liquidity crisis, coupled with a further repricing of credit risk and weakness in the company’s fixed-income, investment-banking, and asset-management businesses, created a difficult operating environment during the quarter.