Goldman Sachs first quarter profits tumble by more than 50 pct

NEW YORK - Agence France-Presse

AFP photo

Goldman Sachs reported a sharp decline in first-quarter earnings April 19, suffering weakness in most of its businesses including financial advising and trading.

Earnings for the quarter ending March 31 were $1.2 billion, down 56.3 percent from the year-ago period. Revenues sank 40.3 percent to $6.3 billion.

“The operating environment this quarter presented a broad range of challenges, resulting in headwinds across virtually every one of our businesses,” said chief executive Lloyd Blankfein.

Goldman saw a steep fall in completed mergers and acquisitions transactions, as well as lower revenues from equity underwriting; these were offset in part by higher activity in debt underwriting.

As with other large banks, volatility in financial markets during the turbulent first quarter depressed trading volumes. Net revenues in fixed income, currency and commodities trades were down 47 percent at $1.7 billion.

Revenues from investment management also fell.     

Goldman offset some of these negatives by slashing employee compensation and benefits by 40 percent to $2.7 billion. Litigation and other non-compensation expenses also fell.