NEW YORK — Goldman Sachs, in another sign that banks might be turning around, beat Wall Street’s earnings expectations as it reported a profit of $1.66 billion for the first three months of this year.
The bank also said it planned to raise $5 billion in stock to help it pay back government bailout funds.
The New York-based bank said it earned $3.39 per share, easily surpassing analysts’ forecasts for profit of $1.64 per share. This compares with earnings of $1.47 billion, or $3.23 per share, in the quarter ended Feb. 29 of last year.
(When Goldman became a bank-holding company last fall amid the mushrooming credit crisis, it switched its reporting cycle so its fiscal quarters were in line with calendar quarters beginning Jan. 1.)
Goldman’s news came days after another top-performing bank, Wells Fargo, said it expected to report record first-quarter earnings of $3 billion.
That news fed a huge stock- market rally Thursday. But with companies including Citigroup and Bank of America still to report first-quarter results, it was too soon to say the banking industry was recovering from the devastating losses caused by the credit crisis and the recession.
Investors showed some caution after Goldman’s announcement, which followed the close of regular trading on Wall Street. Goldman shares initially rose in response but then slipped 1.5 percent.
Goldman’s total revenue was $11.88 billion during the quarter, compared with $18.63 billion in the prior-year quarter. Analysts forecast revenue of $7.19 billion. Goldman said profit was bolstered by strong revenue growth in its fixed-income and currency businesses.
