Gulf investment house Investcorp Bank B.S.C. said today it lost $781 million last fiscal year as its holdings in the West were struck by the «severe impact» of the world financial crisis, according to AP. The Bahrain-based investment bank, which primarily invests Gulf Arab oil money in the U.S. and Europe, called the 12 months through June its «most challenging year» since its start in 1982. The loss was the company's first, reflecting two straight halves of declines. «The fiscal year has seen the worst period of sustained stress to the world economy and financial markets in living memory, and this has had a severe impact on Investcorp and its clients,» the company said in a statement. Investcorp blamed its $780.6 million loss largely on markdowns to the value of its private equity and real estate holdings. The company reported a profit of $151.1 million in the previous fiscal year. George Chrysaphinis, vice president and senior analyst at Moody's Investors Service, said Investcorp's decision to write down the value of those holdings by a quarter or more is «reasonable given the kind of environment we're in.» Investcorp has been working to right itself as it tries to convince investors it can pay off heavy debts acquired before the financial crisis. The bank has faced a series of downgrades by credit rating firms. It earlier this year dropped Standard and Poor's as a rating agency after what the bank said was a «disappointing and ... unjustified» cut to «junk» status. Investcorp announced this month it had raised more than $500 million from Gulf investors to shore up its finances. It also has revamped its management structure since the fiscal year ended.
