Goldman Sachs (GS) earned $1 billion in net income for the fourth quarter, or $1.84 per share, up from a $393 million loss in the previous three months but still down 58% from one year ago.
Goldman struggled in 2011. Net earnings for the year at totaled $2.5 billion, down 67% from the $7.7 billion profit earned the year before.
Revenue in the fourth quarter fell short of analysts expectations at $6.05 billion, down from $8.6 billion one year ago. For the year, revenue was down 26% at $28.8 billion.
Investment banking revenues were up 10% from the third quarter, more than analysts expected to $863 million, but still down more than 40% from the same period last year.
Its fixed-income trading business generated $1.7 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter, down 15% from one year ago. The firm said results “were solid” during the first quarter but deteriorated for the remainder of 2011, “including significant declines in mortgages and credit products.” Fixed-income trading for the year totaled $9 billion in revenue during 2011, down 34% from 2010.
Compensation to employees slipped in 2011 to $12.2 billion, down 21% from $15.3 billion last year.
“This past year was dominated by global macro-economic concerns which significantly affected our clients’ risk tolerance and willingness to transact,” said Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein.
Write to Jon Prior.
Follow him on Twitter @JonAPrior.
