At Bank of America, just to continue the example, fourth-quarter profits were down 95% over the previous year, after write offs for credit exposures, trading losses and rising credit costs.
That was after writing off $39 million in excess inventory for the quarter.
Hewlett Packard dropped from 10 to 15 after writing off $16bn on botched acquisitions in 2012.
That would be something of a triumph; in 1994 Sony was the laughing stock of Hollywood after writing off $2.7 billion of reckless spending at its movie division.
SEB made a small loss after writing off investments in Russia, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia (where the IMF forecasts GDP to shrink by 12% this year).
The Cablevision Systems Corporation, the cable operator that owns Madison Square Garden and the New York Knicks, posted a wider third-quarter loss today after writing off some player contracts.
After writing off about $45 billion in bad debts during 2008, credit card lenders are bracing for the worst year in the industry's history.
The latest report from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation shows that the industry earned $1.7 billion in the third quarter, even after writing off more than $50 billion in bad loans.
After writing off $909 million in sports contracts in February, Mr. Murdoch, chairman of the News Corporation, which owns Fox, cautioned that rights fees "have gone beyond an economic level".
Insiders say that investors are divided over whether to back Hands after writing off the bulk of their EMI investment over the last two years.
Abbey National spurned its suitor once more.Cars are a write-offGeneral Motors reported a third-quarter loss of $804m after writing off $2.2 billion to reflect the plummeting value of its 20% stake in Fiat's car-making operations.
