(Newser)
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It was a bad three months to be a vampire squid: Goldman Sachs reported a $428 million third-quarter loss today, or 84 cents a share—far worse than the 16 cents per share that analysts were expecting, according to Reuters. The blow came largely thanks to $2.48 billion in negative revenue from its Investment & Lending division, which holds the companies stocks, bonds, and other long-term assets.
That includes a $1.05 billion loss from Goldman's private equity investment in the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the New York Times notes. The firm's trading revenue was down big as well. “Our results were significantly impacted by the environment, and we were disappointed to record a loss,” CEO Lloyd Blankfein said. It’s just the second time in Goldman’s history as a publicly-traded company that it’s recorded a quarterly loss. Overall, the company’s revenues were down 60% from a year earlier, and 51% from the second quarter.
