hr: Money

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Early next week, the Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. may raise up to $5 billion in capital. The company, which is the fourth-largest securities firm in the United States, from the time it went public in 1994, may yet report its first ever quarterly loss, according to a company insider.

There is an overseas investor and one US pension fund, at the very least, that Lehman executives are talking with as regards the terms of a transaction. However, a rights offering, wherein existing stockholders can have the right to buy discounted shares, is not part of the present plan.

This year, Lehman plunged by 48 percent in New York Stock Exchange as the company deals with problems regarding the decline of the mortgage as well as structured credit business.

Amid low real estate-backed debt securities and high-yield loans demands. The securities firm is doing its utmost to minimize leverage, or the assets versus shareholder equity ratio

In April, Lehman was able to come up with $4 billion from a sale of convertible preferred shares. This was done to weed out speculation that the company was dire need of capital. By issuing subordinated bonds and some other kinds of securities, the securities company, all in all, was able to raise $8 billion.