In the same quarter a year ago, Block reported a loss of $156.5 million.

The Kansas City tax preparation and financial services giant also said this morning in a preliminary report that it would miss by a few days a deadline for formally filing its second-quarter results with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Block said it expects to file the report by Friday.

The company said that despite the setbacks, it still expected earnings for the full year ending April 30 to land in a previously projected range of $1.30 to $1.45 a share, though probably nearer the bottom of the range because borrowing costs are increasing.

"We continue to move resolutely to end our participation in the subprime mortgage business," Block's recently named new chairman, Richard Breeden, said in a statement released with the preliminary earnings report.

"While we incurred a painful loss in exiting these positions, we determined to take our lumps and move forward," Breeden said.

The nation's largest tax preparer also reported its seasonal losses in its continuing tax and business services operations would be larger than last year, or about $136.1 million compared to $121 million last year.

Block told the SEC its earnings report would be late because Deloitte & Touche LLP, its new independent auditing firm hired in October, needed more time to complete its work. A conference call with securities analysts, originally scheduled today, also was postponed until the report is filed.

At midday, Block shares were down 18 cents at $19.77 on the New York Stock Exchange.