Ambac’s losses mount

Stricken financial insurer Ambac announced a Q1 net loss of $690.1m, close to double the $392.2m for Q1 last year. It blamed accounting changes but its shares fell sharply on the news.

Ambac said without the $495.1m loss related to the new consolidations accounting standard it would have reported a net loss of $195.0m. It said net loss and loss expenses incurred amounted to $89.2m, down considerably from the first quarter of 2009.