Goldman Sachs posts first loss since going public

Goldman loses $2.29 billion during fiscal 4th quarter as value of assets, investments plummet

NEW YORK (AP) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. on Tuesday reported its first quarterly loss since it went public in 1999, losing $2.29 billion during its fiscal fourth quarter.

The loss proves the turmoil in the financial markets has tripped up even the best-run financial institutions. The New York-based bank has long been considered the premier investment bank on Wall Street, and in recent quarters, the sturdiest bank amid the market turmoil.The venerable Wall Street company lost $4.97 per share in the quarter ended Nov. 30. In the year-ago quarter, Goldman earned $3.17 billion, or $7.01 per share.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, forecast a loss of $3.73 per share for the latest quarter. Over the past several weeks, analysts sharply slashed their estimates amid ongoing concern about investment losses. Just a month ago, analysts predicted Goldman would lose just 28 cents per share, with some analysts still predicting a quarterly profit.

The investment banking sector was turned on its head in September when Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy and Goldman and Morgan Stanley became bank holding companies. Like most banks, Goldman was tripped up by the plunging value of its investments, especially at its principal trading desk.

Goldman reported negative revenue of $4.36 billion in its trading and principal investments unit, which includes its fixed income, equities and principal investments divisions.

Overall, Goldman reported negative revenue of $1.58 billion, compared with revenue of $10.74 billion during the year-ago quarter. Analysts were expected quarterly revenue of $662.8 million.

The principal investments division recorded a net loss of $3.6 billion during the quarter. The division lost $2 billion on corporate investments, $961 million from real estate investments and $631 million tied to the firm's investment in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

Negative revenue in the fixed income division totaled $3.4 billion. The weakness was attributed to losses on investments including corporate debt, private and public equities and trading in credit products. The division's losses included $1.3 billion from non-investment-grade credit origination activities and $700 million on commercial mortgage loans and securities.

For the full year, Goldman earned $2.04 billion, or $4.47 per share. Goldman had remained profitable through the beginning of the year, while other financial firms posted huge losses tied to the troubled housing and credit markets.

Shares of Goldman rose $2.42, or 3.6 percent, to $68.88 in premarket trading. Goldman shares traded as high as $71.45 earlier in the morning.("Here My Every News I'm providing like Hot syndication" And This sites every Ads also Erotic you May check it!!)