Insignia Financial Group reports first quarter loss of $408,000.

Insignia Financial Group, Inc., a leading provider of international real estate and financial services, reported results from operations for the first quarter ended March 31.

The company reported a loss from continuing operations of $408,000, compared with income of $216,000 in the first quarter of 2001. In the first quarter of 2002, Net EBITDA(1) was $6 million ($0.23 per share), down from $15.4 million ($0.61 per share) in the first quarter of 2001. The 2001 period was the strongest first quarter ever for Insignia.

First quarter 2002 results were highlighted by a faster than expected recovery in the company's residential sales and brokerage unit, Insignia Douglas Elliman, which benefited from the resurgence of the New York co-op and condo market. In addition, Insignia's newly acquired French unit, Insignia Bourdais (formerly Groupe Bourdais), exceeded expectations, augmenting the company's results in Europe. Insignia/ESG, the Company's U.S.-based commercial property services operation, met expectations for the quarter and reflected the anticipated slowdown in transaction activity following a period of corporate indecision during the last four months of 2001.

"Insignia's first quarter results provide grounds for cautious optimism as we progress in 2002. While US commercial real estate activity was down in the first quarter, businesses are beginning to re-examine real estate decisions that had been deferred during last year's recession," said Andrew L. Farkas, chairman and chief executive officer of Insignia.

"The end of 2001 saw a marked decrease in corporate decision-making, resulting in a soft first quarter. That said, our business is predicated on the movement of capital, which in the last quarter of 2001, had come to a virtual standstill in all markets. After a period of uncertainty, capital movement has recommenced, albeit at a cautious pace, and we expect that this will lead to increased activity later in 2002, provided that the economic recovery holds.

"We are also encouraged by the positive performance of our New York residential real estate operations, along with the solid results in the United Kingdom and France," Farkas added. "Two strategic actions taken last year -- the reengineering of Insignia Douglas Elliman and the Insignia Bourdais acquisition in France -- are providing positive shareholder value this year."

Service revenues for the first three months of 2002 totaled $148 million, a decline of 15% compared with $175.1 million for the first quarter of 2001. Most of the decline stems from reduced transaction activity in U.S. commercial real estate services.

On Jan. 31, Insignia closed on its sale of the Realty One operations, which, for accounting purposes, were reclassified as a discontinued operation as of Dec. 31, 2001. The discontinued operations produced net income of $265,000 ($0.01 per share) for the first quarter of 2002 (resulting from contractual post-closing adjustments on the Realty One sale) compared with a net operating loss of $2.75 million ($0.13 per share) for the first quarter of 2001.