NEW YORK (AFP) — US investment bank Merrill Lynch is "well-capitalized" and is poised to return to profitability soon, its chief executive John Thain said Monday.
Thanks to the 8.5 billion dollars raised on the markets in late July, "we have a big cushion," Thain said in an interview on the business television channel CNBC.
"Today, we are well-capitalized. If asset values don't decline, we won't need any additional capital," he said.
"We will shortly be back to profitability," the CEO added.
The troubled investment bank Merrill Lynch said on July 29 it had shored up its capital with an 8.55-billion-dollar share offering.
The bank sold some 30 billion dollars in collateralized-debt obligations (CDO) -- the packaged US mortgage securities which have ravaged bank balance sheets around the world -- cutting its exposure to the sector by 11.1 billion dollars.
Merrill made the move as part of a series of steps to get out from under crushing losses from soured bets on the US real estate market, which is suffering its worst downturn in decades.
On July 17, Merrill reported a net loss of 4.89 billion dollars for the second quarter.
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