(20 July 2009 – USA) After losses to end 2008, US bank Goldman Sachs has beaten analysts expectations for the second consecutive quarter, with a US$3.44 billion (A$4.28 billion) profit for the quarter to end the financial year.Goldman Sachs turned around a fourth quarter loss to a better than expected gain for the first quarter of 2009, and has once again beat analyst expectations to regain its tag as the profit making machine.
In the first quarter of 2009, Goldman Sachs reported a net profit of US$1.81 billion (A$2.46 billion), compared to a net loss of US$2.12 billion incurred in the previous reporting quarter, the three months to the end of November 2008, and a loss in December.
This quarter, Goldman reported record net revenues of US$13.8bn; about 47 percent higher than it generated in the preceding three months.
The results include a one-off charge of $426m related to the repayment of its government loan under the Troubled Asset Relief Programme (TARP).
While markets remain fragile and the bank recognises the challenges the broader economy faces, our second quarter results reflected the combination of improving financial market conditions and a deep and diverse client franchise, said chief executive Lloyd Blankfein.
In the bank’s Investment Banking unit, net revenue was US$1.44 billion, down compared with the second quarter of 2008 by 15 percent, but up 75 percent since last quarter.
Similarly, Asset Management and Securities net revenues are also down compared with last year, but at US$1.54 billion, revenue is six percent higher than last quarter.
Net revenues for Trading and Principal Investments led the charge, however, at US$10.8 billion, 93 percent higher than the second quarter of 2008 and 51 percent higher than last quarter.