Goldman Sachs Group Inc's fourth-quarter profit fell 56% as trading and investment banking revenue plunged, but the bank managed to beat analysts' expectations through cost cutting and lower taxes, sending its shares higher.
Chief Financial Officer David Viniar said Goldman is targeting $1.4 billion in annual cost savings, up from an earlier goal of $1.2 billion, and has a "small amount" left to do in 2012.
Viniar, speaking on a conference call with analysts, also said profit growth must come from higher revenue and not cost cuts. But he added that Goldman was investing in operations at a "more moderate pace" due to a weak business environment.
"Goldman is adjusting and continuing to operate reasonably well in a difficult environment," said Gary Townsend, president of Hill-Townsend Capital. "I would prefer to see them investing more in their operations, but clearly right now they have to right-size their staffing to be consistent with the revenues the market is allowing them to generate."
Goldman shares were up 5% at $102.59 during morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Goldman's results on Wednesday reflected the weakest year for Wall Street since the financial crisis. As politicians and policymakers battled over ways to handle Europe's sovereign debt burden, market volatility surged and Wall Street's clients pulled back on risk-taking, held off on acquisitions and delayed stock and bond offerings.
The lull in business as well as the prospects of reduced profitability amid tighter regulation have forced major banks to cut tens of thousands of jobs globally and slash bonus pools.
Goldman's payroll declined by 2,400 employees during the year, reflecting job cuts across trading, banking and back-office operations. The bank slashed compensation 21% to $12.2 billion, or $367,057 per employee, from $15.4 billion, or $430,700 per employee, in 2010.
Wall Street rivals including JPMorgan Chase & Co, Citigroup Inc and Jefferies & Co have reported similar weakness in capital markets revenue, and also responded with job and pay cuts. Morgan Stanley is due to report results later this week.
In contrast, US banks that focus more on business and consumer lending have done better in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp <USB.N> and PNC Financial Services Group Inc <PNC.N>, two of the largest US regional banks, said on Wednesday that demand for loans from business is increasing, a trend reflected at other large banks as well.
PROFIT FALLS
Goldman earned $978 million, or $1.84 per share, during the last three months of 2011, down from $2.2 billion, or $3.79 per share, a year earlier.
Goldman's profit for the full year was $2.5 billion, its weakest year since 2008, at the height of the financial crisis.
Each of Goldman's business lines -- investment banking, trading, investment management and investing and lending -- reported double-digit revenue declines during the fourth quarter. All but investment management reported lower revenue for the full year.
Goldman's return-on-equity, a key measure of profitability, was a meager 3.7% for 2011. In the years leading up to the financial crisis, it boasted returns of more than 30%.
"It looks like nothing's working right now," said Jack Kaplan, portfolio manager at Carret Asset Management. "They were below expectations on virtually everything on the revenue side."
While Goldman's fourth-quarter revenue dropped 30% to $6 billion, the bank took steps to reduce expenses and reported lower taxes than in the year-earlier period.
Operating expenses declined 7% to $4.8 billion, while the bank's tax provision of $234 million was down 78%.
The lower expense allowed Goldman to report a better profit than dour estimates released by analysts in the weeks leading up to the earnings report.
In mid-December Barclays analyst Roger Freeman lowered his fourth-quarter profit estimate for Goldman to 75 cents per share, calling 2011 "another year to forget" for Wall Street.
