Goldman profit slides 53%, shares drop

Goldman Sachs Group Inc posted a 53% decline in quarterly profit on Wednesday, in part reflecting lower results in fixed-income trading.

Goldman shares fell 2.7% to USD 169.90 in premarket trading. Fourth-quarter net income after payment of preferred stock dividends totaled USD 2.23 billion, or USD 3.79 per share, compared with USD 4.79 billion, or USD 8.20 a share, a year earlier. Analysts on average expected USD 3.76 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Goldman said net revenue fell 10% to USD 8.64 billion, compared with the average analyst forecast of USD 9 billion. Net revenue in fixed income, currency and commodities slid 39% from the third quarter to USD 1.64 billion, reflecting what Goldman called "generally low client activity levels." Still, Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein in a statement said the bank is "seeing signs of growth and more economic activity" following "difficult" market and economic conditions for much of 2010.