Goldman Sachs reports third quarter loss of $393m

• Goldman third-quarter revenues down 60% to $3.59bn

• Investment bank sets aside $1.58bn to compensate staff, 59% lower than Q3 2010

• 'Compensation expense' equivalent to $292,836 for each worker

• Bank of America posts profit of $6.2bn

the Guardian,

Tuesday 18 October 2011 18.21 BST

Goldman Sachs reported its second quarterly loss since going public in 1999 as the turmoil in Europe and Washington took its toll on the investment bank.

Goldman's third-quarter net loss of $393m (£249m), or 84 cents a share, compared with a profit of $1.9bn, or $2.98 a share, a year earlier. On a pre-tax basis, the bank lost $730m. Revenues were $3.59bn, down 60%. Analysts' average forecasts had been predicting revenues of $4.78bn for the quarter.

The bank set aside $1.58bn to compensate staff, 59% lower than the third quarter of 2010, but a higher proportion of Goldman's revenue at 44% compared with 36% in 2009, the lowest ever level. So far this year Goldman has set aside more than $10bn for compensation, down 24% from the same period a year ago, and its workforce has fallen by 3% to 34,200.

The compensation expense was equivalent to $292,836 for each of the company's workers employed as of 30 September. Over the quarter Goldman made 1,300 employees redundant, about 4% of its headcount. A year earlier the company employed 35,400 people, who shared about $13.1bn, or $370,706 each.

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