Trouble at Bear Stearns intensified on Thursday when the investment bank reported a quarterly loss – the first in its 84 years as a public company – that was nearly four times analysts’ forecasts.

Bear surprised investors with a $1.9bn writedown on its holdings of mortgage assets in its fourth-quarter results, a far larger decline than it forecast only a month ago. Jimmy Cayne, Bear’s chief executive, and other top executives have agreed to forgo a bonus for 2007.