(Reuters) – Goldman Sachs reported third-quarter profit up 37 percent on Tuesday as its investment bankers earned higher advisory fees and traders capitalized on active markets.
The bank’s prediction of a record year for deals has materialized, with companies restarting plans for mergers and listings.
Investment banking fees rose to $2.66 billion (€2.30 billion) in the quarter ended September 30, from $1.87 billion a year ago.
Growth was driven by a 60% rise in advisory fees, while debt and equity underwriting fees also rose.
Its competitor JPMorgan Chase also reported solid investment banking figures on Tuesday.
Global M&A volumes for the first nine months of the year exceeded $3.43 billion, with nearly 48% in the United States, according to Dealogic data.
The period also saw the highest average M&A volume globally and in the United States since 2015, in line with Goldman Sachs Chief Executive David Solomon’s prediction at last year’s Reuters NEXT conference.
Goldman Sachs was a co-lead manager of the quarter’s largest initial public offerings (IPOs), including design software company Figma, Swedish fintech Klarna, and space technology company Firefly Aerospace.
The bank’s overall quarterly profit was $4.1 billion, or $12.25 per share, compared with $2.99 ​​billion, or $8.40 per share, a year ago.
Goldman Sachs executives have become increasingly optimistic about closing deals in recent months, with David Solomon saying that in September the bank had one of its busiest IPO weeks in more than four years.
SUSTAINED COMMERCIAL RESILIENCE
Wall Street trading desks have reaped the rewards of record volatility as clients reorganize their portfolios to keep pace with changes in U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade, foreign and fiscal policies.
The third quarter, however, remained one of Wall Street’s quietest in nearly six years, as the Fed’s interest rate cut and heavy investment in AI pushed major U.S. stock indexes to record highs.
Still, Goldman Sachs’ stock trading revenue rose 7 percent to $3.74 billion as investors took on more risk.
Revenue from fixed income, currencies and commodities reached $3.47 billion, 17% higher than a year ago.
(Written by Ateev Bhandari in Bangalore and Saeed Azhar in New York, Etienne Breban, edited by Augustin Turpin)
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