Goldman Sachs profit slumps for fourth straight quarter

[NEW YORK] Goldman Sachs Group Inc's profit slumped for the fourth straight quarter as market volatility hit the company's bond trading and investment banking businesses.

Goldman - the last of the big US banks to release first-quarter results - reported a 56.3 per cent fall in net income applicable to common shareholders to US$1.2 billion, or US$2.68 per share, for the three months ended March 31. That compared to US$2.75 billion, or US$5.94 per share, a year earlier, when the Wall Street bank recorded its best quarterly profit in five years.

Analysts on average had expected earnings of US$2.45 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It was not immediately clear if the figures reported on Tuesday were comparable.

As with other banks, Goldman's trading revenue was hit by sliding commodity and oil prices, worries about the Chinese economy and uncertainty about US interest rates.

Revenue from trading bonds, currencies and commodities (FICC) fell about 47 per cent to US$1.66 billion, accounting for 26.2 per cent of total revenue in the quarter - a far cry from the 40 per cent the business regularly contributed before the financial crisis.

Goldman's traditional rival, Morgan Stanley, reported on Monday a 54 per cent drop in adjusted revenue from fixed income and commodities trading and a similar drop in net profit.

REUTERS