Ambac Financial Group reported approximately $856 million in statutory capital at the end of the third quarter in an 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this morning.
The company missed Monday’s deadline to file its statutory capital figure with the SEC.
The news came as the stock market’s opening bell rang at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. Stock in the company jumped more than 40% in the first hour of trading to $1.02 per share and dropped back to $0.96 at 11 a.m.
The filing also said the company expects to receive about $440 million in tax refunds in the fourth quarter under the Worker, Homeownership and Business Act that was signed into law by President Obama on Nov. 6.
Regarding the third-quarter surplus, Ambac’s 8K filing said it was the result of commuting, or cancelling, four collateralized debt obligations of asset-backed securities.
The transactions involved an aggregate amount of $5.03 billion notional outstanding at the end of the third quarter. Ambac said they were settled “for cash payments of approximately $520 million,” resulting in positive adjustments to its total impairment reserves in the quarter.
The financial results also include two other items. Third-quarter activity “such as reinsurance recaptures amounting to $311 million” had a positive impact on the surplus, while “credit derivative impairments” of $280 million had a negative impact, according to the filing.
