Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) reported better-than-expected results for the fourth quarter but faced a challenging year in 2023.
The US investment bank recorded its lowest annual profit since CEO David Solomon's first year in charge.
Solomon navigated a difficult year, focusing on retrenching from consumer lending and emphasizing the firm's core strengths in investment banking, trading, and asset management. The company took steps throughout 2023 to exit consumer-related businesses, including the sale of a personal finance unit and specialty lender GreenSky.
The full-year net income of $8.52 billion marked a 24% decline, primarily attributed to a slowdown in dealmaking across the industry and costs associated with exiting consumer lending.
Despite the overall decline, the fourth quarter brought a positive turn for the financial giant. Goldman reported $2.01 billion in net income, or $5.48 a share, on $11.3 billion in revenue, thanks to a boost in equities trading and higher revenues in asset and wealth management.
Analysts had expected revenue of $10.8 billion and earnings per share of $3.62, according to FactSet.
Goldman’s equities-trading unit posted a significant revenue jump of 23% to $4.39 billion, while the asset and wealth management division also saw its highest quarterly revenue in two years, aided by the sale of a financial management business.
“This was a year of execution for Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS),” said CEO and chairman David Solomon, in a release. “With everything we achieved in 2023 coupled with our clear and simplified strategy, we have a much stronger platform for 2024.”
Shares of Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) rose 1.4% in early Tuesday trading.
--Updated with share price movement--