Jan 30 (Reuters) - Flagstar Financial ( FLG/PU ), formerly

known as New York Community Bancorp, reported a smaller

quarterly loss on Thursday, as it reduced its provisions for

potential loan defaults.

Its net loss was $168 million, or 41 cents per share, for

the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with $2.7 billion, or

$11.27 per share, a year earlier.

(Reporting by Niket Nishant and Manya Saini in Bengaluru;

Editing by Arun Koyyur)