(Reuters) – Goldman Sachs reported a 28% rise in first-quarter profit on Monday as a recovery in debt underwriting and trading activity supported its investment banking arm.
The group totaled a profit of 4.13 billion dollars (3.88 billion euros) in the first quarter, compared to 3.23 billion dollars a year ago.
Earnings per share thus came to $11.58, compared to $8.56 expected by the consensus. This is the best earnings per share recorded since the third quarter of 2021, according to LSEG data.
Competitors JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup explained the higher-than-expected increase in their profits on Friday by improving trading conditions.
Rising fees for underwriting debt and stock offerings, as well as providing advice on transactions, pushed fees at Goldman Sachs’ investment bank up 32%, at $2.08 billion.
Global M&A volume increased 30% in the first quarter to approximately $755.1 billion from a year earlier, according to Dealogic data.
Platform solutions, the unit that houses some of the group’s consumer businesses, reported a 24% increase in revenue.
The bank’s provisions for credit losses jumped to $318 million due to potential defaults in credit cards and wholesale loans.
(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bangalore; French version by Alban Kacher)
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