Goldman Sachs' profit plunges a whopping 58% in second quarter

Published

2 years ago

July 28, 2023

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Goldman Sachs on Wednesday said earnings fell by a whopping 58% in the second quarter as the Wall Street giant blamed a retreat from consumer businesses and declining investment values for its worst results in three years.

The dreadful performance still managed to fall short of Wall Street estimates — even after Goldman boss David Solomon warned analysts in the run-up to the earnings release that they should lower their expectations.

Goldman reported that it earned $3.08 a share — lower than the $3.18 analysts had predicted.

The bank’s revenue plummeted 8% to $10.9 billion, according to the report.

“This moment in the economic cycle creates meaningful headwinds for Goldman Sachs,” Solomon told analysts on a conference call. “We are making tough decisions that are driving the strategic evolution of the firm. Given both these factors, it should come as no surprise that we’re going to a period of lower results.”

Solomon did highlight seeing positive signs on the horizon in investment banking.

“It definitely feels better over the course of the last six, eight weeks,” Solomon told analysts on a conference call. “This is obviously a tough quarter,” but he added “the environment feels better.”

He cited activity picking up in equity capital markets and a revival of client discussions on mergers and acquisitions.

Goldman shares closed up 1% at $340.55.

“The bar was relatively low heading into the quarter,” wrote Citigroup analyst Keith Horowitz. “When we compare the results against our estimates, we find that core trends were generally positive,” helped by equities financing and investment banking.

The results were the bank’s worst since the second quarter of 2020, when it took writedowns over a corruption scandal linked to Malaysian state fund 1MDB.

Goldman took a $504 million hit tied to its GreenSky business, which facilitates home improvement loans to consumers, and $485 million related to its real estate investments.

Goldman agreed to acquire GreenSky for $2.2 billion in 2021 and later closed the deal at $1.7 billion.

The bank also took $615 million in credit losses including writedowns related to its consumer loans and business.

Goldman’s Marcus unit was also folded into its merged asset and wealth management arm last year, as the investment bank began pulling back from retail banking.

Goldman’s terrible quarter looked even worse compared to rivals JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley, which all reported strong earnings in the past week.

JPMorgan announced it raked in $14 billion in profit in the second quarter despite CEO Jamie Dimons dire predictions for the economy, which has been saddled with sky-high levels of inflation in recent years.

Goldman’s results are likely to ratchet up pressure on Solomon, whose leadership and management style have been called into question by partners and rank-and-file employees.

Last month, The Post was the first to report that Goldman’s board was beginning to re-evaluate Solomon in the wake of an exodus of top talent from the Wall Street firm.

Since Solomon took the helm in 2018, Goldman partners have complained over their skimpy bonuses, his costly venture into consumer banking, and his side hustle as a DJ.

With Post wires

UK

Fireball at Southend Airport after small plane crashes

Published

3 hours ago

July 13, 2025

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Fireball at Southend Airport after small plane crashes

A small plane has crashed at Southend Airport in Essex.

Essex Police said it was at the scene of a “serious incident”.

Images posted online showed huge flames and a large cloud of black smoke, with one witness saying they saw a “fireball”.

A police statement said: “We were alerted shortly before 4pm to reports of a collision involving one 12-metre plane.

“We are working with all emergency services at the scene now and that work will be ongoing for several hours.

“We would please ask the public to avoid this area where possible while this work continues.”

It has been reported that the plane involved in the incident is a Beech B200 Super King Air.

According to flight-tracking service Flightradar, it took off at 3.48pm and was bound for Lelystad, a city in the Netherlands.

One man, who was at Southend Airport with his family around the time of the incident, said the aircraft “crashed headfirst into the ground”.

John Johnson said: “About three or four seconds after taking off, it started to bank heavily to its left, and then within a few seconds of that happening, it more or less inverted and crashed.

“There was a big fireball. Obviously, everybody was in shock in terms of witnessing it. All the kids saw it and the families saw it.”

Mr Johnson added that he phoned 999 to report the crash.

Southend Airport said the incident involved “a general aviation aircraft”.

Four flights scheduled to take off from Southend this afternoon were cancelled, according to its website.

Flightradar data shows two planes that had been due to land at Southend were diverted to nearby airports London Gatwick and London Stansted.

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said four crews, along with off-road vehicles, have attended the scene.

Four ambulances and four hazardous area response team vehicles are also at the airport, as well as an air ambulance, the East of England Ambulance Service said.

Its statement described the incident as “still developing”.

David Burton-Sampson, the MP for Southend West and Leigh, posted on social media: “I am aware of an incident at Southend Airport. Please keep away and allow the emergency services to do their work.

“My thoughts are with everyone involved.”

Local councillor Matt Dent said on X: “At present all I know is that a small plane has crashed at the airport. My thoughts are with all those involved, and with the emergency services currently responding to the incident.”

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World

Meredith Kercher’s killer faces new trial over sexual assault allegations

Published

4 hours ago

July 13, 2025

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Meredith Kercher's killer faces new trial over sexual assault allegations

The man convicted of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher has been charged with sexual assault against an ex-girlfriend.

Rudy Guede, 38, was the only person who was definitively convicted of the murder of 21-year-old Ms Kercher in Perugia, Italy, back in 2007.

He will be standing trial again in November after an ex-girlfriend filed a police report in the summer of 2023 accusing Guede of mistreatment, personal injury and sexual violence.

Guede, from the Ivory Coast, was released from prison for the murder of Leeds University student Ms Kercher in 2021, after having served about 13 years of a 16-year sentence.

Since last year – when this investigation was still ongoing – Guede has been under a “special surveillance” regime, Sky News understands, meaning he was banned from having any contact with the woman behind the sexual assault allegations, including via social media, and had to inform police any time he left his city of residence, Viterbo, as ruled by a Rome court.

Guede has been serving a restraining order and fitted with an electronic ankle tag.

The Kercher murder case, in the university city of Perugia, was the subject of international attention.

Ms Kercher, a 21-year-old British exchange student, was found murdered in the flat she shared with her American roommate, Amanda Knox.

The Briton’s throat had been cut and she had been stabbed 47 times.