The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that Canaccord Genuity Group posted a $346-million quarterly loss on Thursday, by far its biggest ever as a publicly traded company. The Globe's Niall McGee writes that the bulk of the $3.91 per share loss comes from a $321-million goodwill writedown in the value of its capital markets business. While the writedown is a non-cash item, analysts use goodwill as a key metric in valuing the shares. Canaccord also announced it is eliminating its dividend and laying off 125 people. That amounts to 7 per cent of its global staff and will affect investment bankers, sales, trading and research staff in Canada, Britain and the United States. The Globe reported earlier this week that Canaccord had already laid off about 55 people in Britain. Canaccord is taking a charge of $4.3-million in connection with the layoffs and other restructuring costs. The fiscal third quarter results and the writedown are materially worse than the Street was expecting, notes Mr. McGee. On an ex-items basis, Canaccord's 25-cent-a-share loss compared with a break even estimate from analysts. The unprecedented loss at Canaccord comes amid a brutal operating environment for the entire industry.