US bank Wachovia booked a first-quarter loss of $393 million, its first quarterly loss since 2001, and announced it had raised more than $7 billion in fresh financing. Wachovia’s $24.6 billion takeover two years ago of the Californian-based bank Golden West was the biggest cause of Wachovia’s losing half its market valuation, trimming its dividend by 41 per cent and selling stock to boost its capital, according to media reports. Wachovia, whose activities include wealth management, expects as much as eight per cent of its $120 billion in so-called option adjustable-rate mortgages to default over the life of the loans. Wachovia's previous estimate was for losses of less than half that level. Wachovia's corporate and investment bank activities are being cut back, as demand for packages of home loans and other complex securities shows no sign of rebounding. Wachovia is cutting 500 jobs in the unit by this summer, bringing to more than 1,000 the number of positions eliminated since early 2007. The bank said it had 121,890 employees at the end of last year.