Goldman Sachs has registered net earnings of $2.32bn in the fourth quarter of 2018, compared to a loss of $2.14bn a year earlier.
The group’s net revenues for the quarter ended 31 December 2018 were $8.08bn, almost flat compared to the corresponding quarter of 2017.
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Net revenues in Investment Banking were $2.04bn for the fourth quarter of 2018, down 5% compared to last year.
In Financial Advisory, net revenues surged 56% to $1.2bn on a year-on-year basis driven by a rise in mergers and acquisitions volumes.
However, net revenues in Underwriting plummeted 38% to $843m. The fall was said to be due to lower net revenues in debt and equity underwriting.
Net revenues in Institutional Client Services were $2.43bn for the fourth quarter of 2018. The figure marked a 2% rise from the previous year.
Net revenues in Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities (FICC) Client Execution declined 18% year-on-year to $822m. The decrease was said to be due to lower net revenues in credit and interest rate products.
Net revenues in Equities were $1.6bn, up 17% from the fourth quarter of 2017. The rise was driven by significantly higher net revenues in equities client execution, the bank said.
In Investment Management, net revenues increased 2% year-on-year to $1.7bn. The bank attributed the rise to “significantly higher incentive fees”.
Goldman Sachs chairman and CEO David Solomon said: “We are pleased with our performance for the year, achieving stronger top and bottom line results despite a challenging backdrop for our market-making businesses in the second half.
“For the year, we delivered double-digit revenue growth, the highest earnings per share in the firm’s history and the strongest return on equity since 2009. We are confident that we are well positioned to support an even larger universe of clients, continue to diversify our revenue mix and deliver strong returns for our shareholders in the years ahead.”
