Goldman Sachs Group Inc posted a wider-than-expected loss of $428 million for the third quarter,only its second quarterly loss as a public company,hurt by sharp declines in the value of investment securities and customer trading assets. Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein cited difficult market conditions and a lack of confidence among investors and corporate clients for the poor results. Our results were significantly impacted by the environment and we were disappointed to record a loss in the quarter,Blankfein said. Shares of the largest U.S. investment bank by assets were down 2 percent in premarket trading. Goldman's loss-driver was its Investing & Lending division,which holds stocks,bonds,loans and private equity assets as long-term investments. The division reported negative revenue of $2.48 billion as the value of those assets dropped sharply. Goldman's stock investment in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd alone generated more than $1 billion of paper losses. Goldman was also hurt by big declines in bond trading and investment banking revenue. Its fixed income,currency and commodities client trading business reported $1.73 billion in revenue,a 36 percent decline from a year earlier. Investment banking revenue dropped 33 percent to $781 million. Overall,Goldman's net revenue totaled $3.6 billion,down 60 percent from a year earlier and down 51 percent from the 2011 second quarter. Its third-quarter loss amounted to 84 cents per share,compared with a profit of $2.98 per share a year earlier. On average,analysts had expected a loss of 16 cents per share.
