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The exterior of the world headquarters for Lehman Brothers can be seen in New York, May 19, 2008. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Some analysts are girding for a third-quarter loss of $1.8 billion or more from U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (LEH.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), instead of the modest profit they had previously expected, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

If losses keep piling up, Lehman could need to raise additional capital beyond the $6 billion it got in June, the paper said.

Lehman is considering pre-announcing its earnings this month, the paper said, citing a person familiar with the matter. The end of Lehman's fiscal third quarter is less than two weeks away, and the bank typically announces its third-quarter earnings in mid-September.

In June, the bank posted its first quarterly loss as a public company, of $2.8 billion.

The likelihood of back-to-back quarterly losses is fueled by widely anticipated write-downs in a portfolio saddled with more than $50 billion in risky real-estate and mortgage assets, the Wall Street Journal said.

Lehman declined to comment.

(Reporting by Megan Davies, editing by Richard Chang)