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(Sharecast News) - Quarterly profits at Goldman Sachs comfortably beat expectations on Thursday, boosted by higher investment banking fees and bumper trading revenues.
Diluted earnings per share rose to $14.01 in the three months to December end at the Wall Street bank, up from $11.95 a year previously. Consensus had been for EPS of $11.67.
Net earnings were 12% higher at $4.6bn, also ahead of consensus, for $3.9bn.
Driving the improvement was a 25% surge in investment banking fees, to $2.58bn, and a 25% spike in equities trading revenues, to a record $4.31bn.
Fixed income, currencies and commodities revenues were also stronger, rising 12% to $3.11bn.
Overall, fourth-quarter net revenues fell 3% to $13.45bn. The figure was dragged down by a sharp slide in platform solutions revenues, following markdowns on the outstanding credit card portfolio relating to the transfer of Apple credit card loans.
Goldman Sachs agreed to transfer the portfolio to JPMorgan Chase earlier this month, as part of wider plans to move away from the consumer market.
Even with weakness in platform solutions, however, over the full-year net revenues jumped 9% at $58.28bn, while diluted EPS soared to $51.32 from $40.54.
As at 1430 GMT, shares in Goldman Sachs had put on 2% as trading got underway in New York.
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