Natixis plungeson huge Q1 loss

Natixis SA, the French bank whose two biggest shareholders agreed to merge, slid as much as 19 percent in Paris trading after reporting a 1.84 billion-euro ($2.5 billion) first-quarter loss on asset writedowns.

Natixis fell 16 cents, or 9.8 percent, to 1.49 euros by 11:42 am in Paris, valuing the investment bank at 4.3 billion euros. The stock lost 79 percent in the past 12 months.

Natixis, which is cutting 1,400 jobs, on Wednesday reported a fourth consecutive quarterly deficit, triggered by 1.9 billion euros of losses on 33.7 billion euros of investments. The holdings include asset-backed securities, complex derivatives and residential-mortgage backed securities. Natixis aims to replenish capital with a 3.5 billion-euro injection from the two main shareholders, the bank said.