Merrill sees $6 bln-$6.5 bln Q1 writedowns-CNBC

NEW YORK, April 9 (Reuters) - Merrill Lynch & Co (MER.N: Quote, Profile, Research) executives expect the company to record first-quarter write-downs in the neighborhood of $6 billion to $6.5 billion and will likely post a quarterly loss, CNBC reported on Wednesday, citing sources.

Merrill Lynch reports first-quarter results on April 17, and analysts polled by Reuters on average expected the company to post a loss. (Reporting by Dan Wilchins, editing by Mark Porter)