UPDATE: Fortress Reports Fourth-Quarter Net Loss

By Alistair Barr

SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones) -- Fortress Investment Group reported a fourth-quarter net loss Monday after some investors pulled money out of the firm's hedge funds.

Fortress reported a quarterly net loss of $140 million, or $1.50 a share, versus a loss of $29 million, or 43 cents a share a year earlier.

Pre-tax distributable losses, which exclude unrealized gains or losses on illiquid investments and certain types of expenses, but include so-called contingent revenue, were $258 million, or 56 cents per dividend paying share, in the latest quarter. Pre-tax distributable earnings in 2007's fourth quarter were $78 million.

Fortress (FIG), one of the first major hedge fund firms to go public in the U.S. in 2007, has been hit hard by losses and withdrawals from some of its funds. Fortress shares have slumped 87% in the past year.

The firm suspended redemptions from its largest hedge fund, the Drawbridge Global Macro fund, in December after getting requests from investors to withdraw more than $3 billion.