Boston’s State Street Corp., one of the world’s biggest institutional investors, posted a loss in the second quarter after taking a multibillion-dollar charge, and as fees for managing and administering assets declined amid the financial crisis.

The 217-year-old company reported a loss of $3.3 billion, or $7.12 per share, for the second quarter Tuesday after a charge to bring previously unrealized losses in its asset-backed commercial paper program onto the balance sheet.

Costs related to repaying a government bailout also weighed on results, State Street said.

On an operating basis, the company earned $1.04 per share, down from $1.40 a year earlier. Wall Street analysts had expected 99 cents.

In premarket trading, the company’s share price fell 3.9 percent. Through Monday, State Street’s share price has climbed 22.3 percent this year, staging a dramatic comeback after investors had sent the stock down by more than 20 percent on worries over unrealized losses that might have to be consolidated.

State Street, which also earns money for keeping records and providing accounting and other services to investment managers, took a charge of $6.1 billion for moving assets from its troubled commercial paper program onto its balance sheet in May.

The unrealized losses on its investment portfolio, which totaled $5.9 billion at the end of the first quarter and worried investors enough to weigh on the company’s share price early in the year, stood at $4.75 billion.

Second-quarter revenue fell 21 percent to $2.1 billion as investment management fees dropped 31 percent and servicing fees declined 19 percent.

Total assets under custody and administration stood at $16.39 trillion, down 17 percent from a year ago but up 9 percent from the end of the first quarter. Assets under management stood at $1.6 trillion, down 18 percent from a year ago but up 12 percent from the last quarter.

State Street ranks among the world’s biggest investment managers, along with Fidelity Investments. (Reuters)