Fortress, Conseco, Nationwide and more

Fortress Investment Group LLC, Conseco Services LLC. and The Phoenix Companies Inc. all suffered first-quarter earnings losses while Nationwide Financial Services Inc. saw a profit decline, and the newly merged Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. saw an earnings increase. Nationwide Financial Services saw profits drop 78% due to losses on structured products and alternative investments stemming from the declining capital markets. The Columbus, Ohio-based company reported a first-quarter net income of $44.5 million, or 32 cents a share, compared with $208.3 million, or $1.42 a share, in the same period last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecasted a profit of $1.11 per share. Conseco suffered a first-quarter loss of $5.8 million, due in large part to a decline in pretax operating earnings, after achieving a net income of $500,000 in the year-ago period, Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters of New York had expected the Carmel, Ind.-based insurance company to achieve revenue growth of $1.19 billion for the quarter. Fortress Investment Group reported a first quarter loss of $68.9 million, or 74 cents a share, compared to a net income of $62.1 million, or 87 cents a share in the first three months of 2007, due in large part to losses in hedge fund investments. Assets under management at the Chicago-based company rose 46% from the first quarter of 2007 to $34.2 billion. The Phoenix Companies suffered a quarterly loss of $19 million compared to a net income of $50.6 million for the 2007 first quarter. Assets held under management by the Hartford, Conn.-based insurance company dropped to $34.5 billion at the end of the quarter, compared with $45.7 billion on March 31, 2007. Nasdaq OMX Group posted a rise in first-quarter profit due to record trading volume. During the first quarter NASDAQ merged with Stockholm, Sweden-based OMX AB and the combined New York-based company saw profits rise to $121.4 million, or 69 cents per share, from $18.3 million, or 14 cents per share, in the year-ago results for just Nasdaq.