MERRILL LYNCH posted a much larger-than-expected $4.89 billion (€3.08 billion) quarterly loss after writing down soured debt, and unveiled plans to sell billions of dollars of assets - including a part of its lucrative brokerage business - to shore up capital.

The loss was the fourth consecutive quarterly loss for Wall Street's third-largest investment bank, and was more than twice as big as analysts expected. Chief executive John Thain called the quarter "difficult and disappointing."

Thain joined Merrill in November to turn around a company that had been rocked by massive write-downs of complex debt securities. But so far this year, the company has racked up more than $7 billion of net losses for common shareholders, as bad investment and business decisions made under ousted former chief executive Stanley O'Neal have haunted Thain.

The quarterly loss applicable to common stockholders was $4.89 billion, or $4.97 per share, after a profit of $2.07 billion, or $2.24 per share, a year earlier. Excluding restructuring charges, Merrill lost $4.95 per share.