May 1 (Reuters) - New York Community Bancorp ( NYCB )

reported a loss for the first quarter on Wednesday, as the

commercial real estate-focused lender increased its loan-loss

provisions to cover possible defaults.

The bank posted a loss of $327 million, or 45 cents per

share, in the three months ended March 31. That compares with a

profit of $2.01 billion, or $2.87 per share, in the year-ago

period.

(Reporting by Niket Nishant and Manya Saini in Bengaluru;

Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)