Piper Jaffray swings to loss in 2nd quarter

Piper Jaffray lost $3.6 million during the second quarter. The investment bank earned $9.3 million during the same quarter a year earlier.

The company did not release a diluted loss per share figure in accordance with an accounting rule. Piper Jaffray's losses per basic share were 23 cents for the second quarter.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial, on average, estimated losses would be 24 cents per share for the quarter.

Investment banking revenue, which includes IPO and merger and acquisition management, fell 57 percent to $32.2 million during the second quarter, from $74.9 million during the year-ago period.

Piper Jaffray expects the weakness in the capital markets to continue throughout the rest of the year.

"We now believe that the current capital markets downturn will continue through the rest of 2008 and could extend into 2009," Andrew Duff, Piper Jaffray's chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. "We are carefully managing our business with the goal of establishing a stronger market position once the market cycle corrects."

The steep decline in investment banking revenue was partially offset by growth in the institutional brokerage division. Institutional brokerage revenue increased 33 percent to $51.2 million during the quarter, from $38.6 million during the second quarter last year.

Total revenue at Piper Jaffray fell 21 percent to $100.7 million from $127 million during the second quarter in 2007.