Jefferies Group Inc. released on Monday its forecasts which illustrate that the company will lose about $24 million, or 17 cents per share, in the fourth quarter.

The forecasted loss will be caused by the weak results of the investment bank in its high yield and asset management business, as well as losses in two principal trading efforts. Moreover, Jefferies had to postpone some deals due to the weak credit markets.

Thomson Financial analysts predicted earnings of 33 cents per share for the quarter on revenue of $390.9 million.
Jefferies officials said the company expects the fourth-quarter revenue to be between $345 million and $365 million.

Jefferies Group Inc. statement also underlined that, unlike some larger investment banks, the company has considerable liquidity and will not be forced to take any major write downs or impairment charges in the fourth quarter.

The extremely challenging environment that began in the summer continued in the fourth quarter, particularly in November and December," said Chairman and Chief Executive Richard B. Handler for Forbes.

The investment bank also noted that during the fourth quarter, which Jefferies noted "historically has been one of the strongest periods of the year for the firm," it had "weak results in its high-yield and asset-management businesses."

As for the full-year income, Jefferies said it expected it will go pass $140 million on revenue of more than $1.55 billion, the company statement said. Analysts forecast full-year earnings of $1.45 per share on revenue of $1.61 billion.

The report of the fourth-quarter and full year earnings will most likely be made on January 23rd. A conference call is scheduled for 11 a.m. EST Monday.