Goldman Sachs reported a third-quarter net loss of $428m on Tuesday, only the second time since it went public in 1999 that Wall Street’s most admired and reviled investment bank has not announced a profit.
The loss of 84 cents per share compared with earnings of $2.98 per share in the third quarter last year. Revenues plunged from $8.9bn to $3.6bn, with mark-to-market losses in the bank’s debt securities weighing on the results.
Lloyd Blankfein, chief executive, acknowledged he was “disappointed” with a performance that he attributed to lower confidence among corporate clients and investors, and declining asset prices in a summer of turmoil on global markets.