Goldman Sachs reported today that its fourth-quarter profit dropped 21 per cent as revenue from mortgages and trading in bonds and other securities weakened.
Goldman earned USD 2.25 billion in the October-December quarter after paying dividends on preferred shares, down from USD 2.83 billion in the same period a year earlier.
That worked out to USD 4.60 per share, down from USD 5.60 per share a year earlier. The results were well above the earnings of USD 4.18 per share that analysts were expecting.
It was the first year-on-year decline in earnings at Goldman Sachs since the second quarter of 2012, when income fell 12 per cent to USD 927 million.
Revenue slipped 5 per cent to USD 8.78 billion, but exceeded analysts' forecast of USD 7.72 billion. Recent weakness in trading of bonds, currencies and commodities have depressed earnings at Goldman.
Goldman's CEO Lloyd Blankfein said in a prepared statement that the company has worked to keep costs down "to provide solid returns even in a somewhat challenging environment."
The decline came despite a 22 per cent jump in earnings in Goldman's investment banking business in the fourth quarter, to USD 1.72 billion.
The company maintained its quarterly dividend at 55 cents.
Goldman's stock fell USD 1.60, or 0.9 per cent, to USD 177.19 in early trading.
