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Profits of Goldman Sachs fell by 58%, but surprised investors

Goldman Sachs Group, the fifth the amount of US assets Bank announced that its profit for the fourth quarter of 2011 declined by 58% over the same period last year. Despite the decline, the results exceeded analysts' expectations. The bank's net profit for the fourth quarter fell year on year to 1.01 billion dollars or 1.84 dollars per share, from 2.39 billion dollars or 3.79 dollars per share. The average forecast of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was for profit of 1.23 dollars per share. Economists' expectations ranged between 70 cents and 2.50 dollars per share. Like many other investment banks Goldman was hit by the deepening debt crisis in the eurozone and the subsequent decline in stock markets over the last three months of 2011 Between JPMorgan reported 23% lower profit, while Citigroup has declined from 11%.
"Last year was dominated by the global macroeconomic issues that significantly cooled willingness to take risks with our customers", said the CEO of the bank. "As economies and markets recover - and we do see encouraging signs - Goldman Sachs is very well positioned to bring profits to customers and shareholders."