Shares of Fremont General Corp. hit a three-year low Wednesday as the subprime lender announced it was postponing its fourth quarter earnings release, giving no reason for the delay.

Shares in the Santa Monica-based lender dropped as much as 20 percent during trading Wednesday.

Fremont General said in a statement that it will file an explanation with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Friday.

This is yet another bump in the road for the lender; whose shares have lost more than 37 percent this year amid Wall Street fears about subprime lending practices.

Shares in Fremont closed down 24 percent ($2.84) to $8.81 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday. They fell more than 6.5 percent during Tuesday’s market downturn.