NYSE Member Firms Lost $404 Million in 2nd Quarter

Wall Street was rough on its own in the second quarter as New York Stock Exchange member firms that do business with the public racked up losses totaling $404 million.

The exchange said Tuesday that its member firms that do business with the public reported the after-tax loss on revenue of $16.42 billion in the second quarter, contrasted with a profit of $1.5 billion on revenue of $17.95 billion in the year-ago quarter.

In the first quarter of 1994, the firms reported an after-tax profit of $852 million on revenue of $18.5 billion. This left the firms with a profit for the first six months of the year of $448 million on revenue of $34.92 billion. That compares to earnings of $3.03 billion on revenue of $35.69 billion in the first half of 1993.

The exchange said NYSE specialists, which match buyers and sellers for specific stocks, reported a second-quarter profit of $29 million on revenue of $143 million, compared to earnings of $29 million on revenue of $132 million in the year-earlier quarter.

The NYSE said specialists’ profits for the first half rose to $73 million from $62 million in 1993 and that revenue increased to $313 million from $268 million.

Specialists are generally excluded from the category of member firms dealing with the public, it said.