Goldman Sachs fourth-quarter profit falls 10 per cent; hit by slowdown in trading

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Goldman Sachs posted a 10 per cent drop in fourth-quarter earnings Friday as trading activity declined.

The Wall Street investment bank’s fixed income, currency and commodities division saw a 29 per cent revenue slump during the quarter, from $1.72 billion to $1.22 billion.

Goldman follows other major U.S. banks this week in reporting a noticeable slowdown in trading over the past three months.

Goldman earned $2.03 billion, or $4.38 a share, for the quarter that ended in December. That compares with a profit of $2.25 billion, or $4.60 a share, in the same period a year earlier.

Revenues were $7.69 billion, down from $8.78 billion a year ago.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected Goldman to earn $4.32 a share on $7.66 billion in revenue.

Goldman also saw a slowdown in its investment bank underwriting division.

For the full year, Goldman reported a profit of $8.08 billion, or $17.07 a share, up from $7.73 billion, or $16.34 a share, last year.

Goldman’s compensation expenses, typically the firm’s largest operating expense, were flat for the year at $12.69 billion.

Goldman shares fell $1.72, or 1 per cent, to $176.77 in late morning trading Friday.