Goldman Sachs profit doubles in second quarter
NEW YORK – Goldman Sachs doubled its profit in the second quarter as the financial giant saw surges in investment banking and trading.
The New York-based banking giant said it earned $1.9 billion in the second quarter, up from $962 million the same period a year ago.
Earnings per share of $3.70, up from $1.78 from the second quarter last year, easily beat expectations. Analysts had estimated earnings per share of $2.83, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters.
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“Improving economic conditions in the U.S. drove client activity and the strength of our global client franchise allowed us to deliver positive performance across a number of our businesses,” Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. “While the operating environment has shown noticeable signs of improvement, we continue to put a premium on disciplined risk management, particularly in regard to the firm’s strong capital and liquidity levels.”
While the bank saw significantly higher revenues in its fixed-income, commodities and currency trading segment, Goldman said rising interest rates and volatility in the latter half of the quarter made financial markets challenging. The firm also said its results were offset by lower revenue from investments tied to mortgages and interest rates.
Its investment banking segment saw strong performance in the last quarter. Net revenue from equity underwriting rose 55%. Net revenue from debt underwriting rose 40% to a quarterly record of $695 million, the bank said.
Goldman is the latest major bank to report strong earnings in the last quarter. Bank of America will release its second-quarter results Wednesday, followed by Morgan Stanley on Thursday.
The bank’s stock rose 60 cents, or 0.4%, to $163.60 in early on Wall Street.
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