Earnings News: Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS) Q1 Profit Surges 40% On Fixed-Income, Citigroup Inc (C) Profit Leaps 16% As Legal Costs Ease

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. posted a 40 percent surge in quarterly earnings, marking the investment bank’s highest profit since 2010. Meanwhile, Citigroup Inc.’s first-quarter profit jumped 16 percent, rebounding from a massive 86 percent plunge in earnings during the fourth quarter due to legal costs.

The results come following a busy week of corporate results from the financial sector. Bank of America Corp. turned in quarterly profit and revenue below estimates, but the second-largest U.S. bank by assets reversed a surprise loss from a year ago when it was hit with $6 billion for litigation expenses. Investment giant JPMorgan Chase & Co. saw its profit jump 12 percent from a year ago, while Wells Fargo & Co. reported a rare earnings decline.

Goldman Sachs Profit Surges 40% In Q1 As Fixed-Income Trading Rebounds

Shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) gained 0.5 percent Thursday to $202 after the investment bank posted quarterly earnings that beat Wall Street expectations after its fixed-income trading division rebounded following a 29 percent plunge in the fourth quarter.

Goldman Sachs’ fiscal first-quarter net income soared 40 percent to $2.7 billion, or earnings per share of $5.94, on revenue of $10.6 billion, compared with a profit of $1.949 billion, or earnings per share of $4.02, on revenue of $9.33 billion a year ago.

Wall Street had Goldman Sachs to report net income of $1.90 billion, or earnings per share of $4.21, on revenue of $9.34 billion, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters said.

Revenue from its bond trading division, which trades bonds, currencies and commodities, rose 10 percent in the first quarter to $3.13 billion.

In January, Goldman Sachs said its bond trading business, traditionally a strong unit, plunged 29 percent during the fourth quarter due to multiple bouts of market volatility, driven by multiple factors, including dropping oil prices and uncertainty about global economic growth.

Shares of Goldman Sachs have rallied nearly 28 percent in the last 12 months.

Citigroup’s Profit Leaps 16% In Q1 As Legal Costs Ease

Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) rose around 2 percent Thursday to $54.18 after the third-biggest U.S. bank by assets saw its quarterly profit leap 16 percent, rebounding from a disappointing fourth quarter, weighed down by legal costs. The bank’s legal fees eased to $403 million in the first quarter from $1.16 billion a year earlier.

Citigroup posted first-quarter net income of $4.6 billion, or earnings per share of $1.51, on revenue of $19.8 billion. That compares with a profit of $3.76 billion, or earnings per share of $1.23, on revenue of $20.1 billion a year ago.

Analysts had expected Citigroup to post net income of $4.23 billion, or earnings per share of $1.39, on revenue of $19.8 billion, Reuters data show.

Citigroup’s fourth-quarter earnings plunged 86 percent due to a $3.5 billion charge from legal costs related to an investigation into the bank manipulating the foreign-exchange market. The legal fees compare to $1 billion during the same period a year earlier. The bank’s effective tax rate was 72 percent in the fourth quarter, a jump from 32 percent in the year-ago quarter, driven by a significantly higher portion of non-tax-deductible legal expenses.

Citigroup's effective tax rate was 72 percent in the fourth quarter, a jump from 32 percent in the year-ago quarter, driven by a significantly higher portion of non-tax-deductible legal expenses. Meanwhile, the company’s operating expenses in the fourth quarter included legal expenses and other related expenses of $2.8 billion, compared with $159 million a year earlier.

Citigroup shares have gained more than 10 percent in the last 12 months.