First Marblehead Narrows Quarterly Loss

First Marblehead(FMD Quote), one of the nation's largest securitizers of student loans, narrowed its loss in the third quarter, aided by cost-cutting initiatives.

The company posted a loss of $140.7 million, or $1.42 a share, compared with a loss of $229.6 million, or $2.36 a share, a year ago.

First Marblehead also posted negative revenue of $130.6 million compared to negative revenue of $251.8 million in the same period last year.

Last week rival SLM(SLM Quote), more commonly known as Sallie Mae, also said it narrowed its loss in its most recent quarter.