Quanta Capital Holdings shares dropped 1.43 percent yesterday following its announcement late on Friday that its fourth quarter earnings report would be further delayed.

The Bermuda-based insurer first failed failed to issue a fourth quarter earnings report to investors on March 1 as scheduled, and said in a regulatory filing late on Friday that it was delaying the report further, citing a need for ?more time to evaluate controls over financial reporting?.

Quanta also told investors it expects its 2005 loss to be be in a range between $94 million and $97 million, and revised an earlier estimated quarterly loss range. The company posted a net loss of $54.6 million in 2004.

For the quarter, a preliminary fourth quarter loss of between $40 million and $45 million was narrowed to between $42 million to $45 million. The company said the estimates are preliminary and subject to the completion of a review by its auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers. It didn?t give a date for when it expects its audit to be concluded.

The Nasdaq-listed insurer, in its Friday filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, said it continues to evaluate strategic alternatives, including the sale of some or all of its business.

Quanta?s future business prospects were called into question after its March 2 announcement of losses up to $45 million resulted in being downgraded by A.M. Best from ?A-? to B++?.

Quanta is in the midst of making job cuts and downsizing its operations, which are in Bermuda, across the US and in the UK. The company?s shares fell four cents in 4 p.m. New York composite trading on the Nasdaq, or 1.43 percent, to $2.76. Quanta?s shares have traded in a range between $2.20 and $8.60 in the last year.