Lehman liquidates three floundering funds-filing

LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (LEH.N: Quote, Profile, Research) has liquidated three floundering investment funds that lost value and ended up taking $1 billion of assets onto its balance sheet, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The bank blamed the liquidation on "market disruptions that occurred in the second half of the 2007 fiscal year and further deterioration in the 2008 quarter," according to the quarterly filing on Wednesday.

In Europe, Lehman Brothers shares were down 4.1 percent from their last close in Frankfurt at 25.50 euros (LHMH.F: Quote, Profile, Research).

Lehman's announcement comes at a time when losses from subprime and other mortgages have rocked several banks and dealt a blow to their balance sheets.

(Reporting by Aarthi Sivarama; Editing by David Cowell)