E-Trade says improving loans helped narrow loss in first quarter

E-Trade says loss narrows in first quarter

NEW YORK — Online discount broker E-Trade Financial Corp. says its loss narrowed in the first quarter, partly because of its improving loan portfolio.

The company says it lost $47.8 million, or 2 cents per share, in the first three months of the year. That’s an improvement from the loss of $232.7 million, or 41 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a loss of 3 cents per share.

Provisions for loan losses in the quarter were $268 million, down from $454 million in first quarter 2009. E-Trade has been slammed by its investments in real estate loans and bonds backed by the troubled assets.