Van der Moolen Posts Loss

Specialist trading firm Van der Moolen(VDM Quote - Cramer on VDM - Stock Picks) posted a second-quarter loss due to an acquisition-related impairment charge and the cost of a settling a regulatory investigation.

In the quarter, the New York Stock Exchange specialist firm lost 9.4 million euros ($12 million dollars), or 21 cents a share, down from a net profit of 1.8 million euros, or 5 cents a share, a year ago.

Much of the loss stemmed from a 10-million euro writedown stemming from its recent acquisition of Curvalue, an electronic trading operation. The quarter loss also included the cost of paying a $3.5 million fine to settle allegations of impropriety in the Van der Moolen's now defunct stock-lending operation.

Excluding the various charges, Van der Moolen said its operating profit in the second quarter was 2.1 million euro.

Revenue rose 49% to 40.5 million euros largely because of the Curvalue acquisition.

"The results in the first half of 2006 were strongly influenced by United States litigation settlements and an impairment on our brokerage business, but we are pleased to see that the operating result (after impairment and special items) in the second quarter improved to EUR 2.1 million,'' the company said in a press release.