Goldman Sachs reported a fourth straight decline in quarterly profits as it reorganised its business structure, pulling back from its foray into retail banking to focus more on its traditional strengths of serving big corporations and wealthy investors.
Chief executive David Solomon confirmed that Goldman would fold its trading and investment banking business into one unit as it shrinks to three divisions from four.
Goldman Sachs reported third-quarter net income of $3.1bn, or $8.25 a share, down 43 per cent from $5.4bn, or $14.93 a share a year ago. That beat analysts’ estimates for $2.9bn, or $7.75 a share, according to consensus data compiled by Bloomberg, but was still Goldman’s fourth straight quarterly decline.