Goldman Sachs blows past analysts' forecasts for third quarter earnings

(Sharecast News) - Goldman Sachs blew past analysts' estimates for earnings in its third quarter thanks to a strong showing from its Global Markets and Investment Banking arms.
For the three months ending on 30 September, the bank reported net earnings of $3.62bn for earnings per share of $9.68.

That was nearly twice the $5.57 in EPS that analysts had penciled-in.

Topline growth meanwhile printed at $10.78bn, with revenues growing across all its business segments in comparison to a year earlier, including in Asset Management and Global Markets.

Revenues of $4.55bn in the latter were 29% higher than a year before, albeit down 37% from the second quarter, buoyed by a 49% surge in those from Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities.

Also during the quarter, Goldman enjoyed its second highest quarterly revenues from equity underwriting ever, topping the global ranking for completed mergers and acquisitions and for IPOs.

The blowout quarter also saw Goldman deliver an annualised return on average common shareholders' equity of 17.5% for the third quarter and of 8.0% for the first nine months of the year - the highest since 2010.

To take note of, net provisions for litigation and regulatory proceedings of $3.15bn knocked $8.57 off its EPS year-to-date and subtracted 5.1 percentage points from its RoE.

As of 1251 BST, shares of Goldman Sachs were advancing by 3.02% to $217.18.