Investment bank Morgan Stanley (MS) reported a loss in the fourth quarter, as the firm took charges on a settlement with bond insurer MBIA.

The bank posted a fourth-quarter loss of $275 million, or 15 cents a share, on revenue of $5.7 billion. Results for the quarter include a $1.7 billion charge tied to the MBIA settlement.

Comparatively, the company’s fourth-quarter earnings are down from a profit of $600 million, or 42 cents a share, a year earlier.

Still, the firm beat analysts’ expectations of a 4Q loss as deep as 57 cents per share, according to Yahoo! Finance.

For the entire 2011 fiscal year, Morgan Stanley posted a profit of $2.1 billion, or $1.25 a share, compared to $3.6 billion, or $2.64 a share, a year earlier.

Revenue for the year hit $32.4 billion, up from $31 billion a year ago.

Write to Kerri Panchuk.