Wednesday Papers: Goldman profits plummet by 83% - other news

The Wall Street bank suffered as the exceptional trading conditions that followed the 2008 financial crisis evaporated

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by Himanshu Singh on Jul 21, 2010 at 03:24

Financial Times

* Goldman Sachs reported a steep drop in quarterly profits on Tuesday as the exceptional trading conditions that followed the 2008 financial crisis evaporated; net income after payment of preferred shares plunged 83 per cent in the second quarter, to $453m; Revenue from its trading and principal investments fell nearly 40 per cent; Equity trading plummeted 89 per cent to $235m.

* The FTSE All-World equity index reversed its losses and was up 0.5 per cent, while the FTSE 100 in London was down 0.2 per cent; S&P 500 futures had fallen nearly 1 per cent; the FTSE Asia-Pacific index added 0.2 per cent; Hong Kong climbed 0.9 per cent, though Tokyo fell 1.2 per cent.

* Executives at FTSE 100 companies earn retirement benefits that cost roughly twice as much as those offered to those in the FTSE 250, according to a study by actuarial consultants Lane, Clark & Peacock.

* BNY Mellon reported a net profit of $658m, or 54 cents a share, compared with $176m, or 15 cents a share, last year; fee revenue rose 2 per cent to $2.56bn, including $13bn in net securities gains; assets under management grew 13 per cent to $1,000bn as of June 30.

* State Street reported net profit of $432m, compared with a loss of $3.18bn a year earlier; total fee revenue increased 10 per cent to $1.7bn, compared with $1.5bn a year ago; assets under management rose 15 per cent to $1,782bn compared with a year ago but fell 7.6 per cent during the second quarter as a result of tumbling stock markets.

* Countrywide Financial made 153 “VIP” loans to Fannie Mae executives, in an effort to win goodwill from the giant mortgage finance company, according to a letter released on Tuesday by a US congressman.

* Hungary suffered its second debt auction failure in the space of two months on Tuesday as fears rose over the country’s commitment to economic reforms.

* Hypo Real Estate, the German bank nationalised during the financial crisis, is set to fail a European stress test.

* The Irish government should consider even deeper cuts in the next budget to help reassure the sovereign bond markets, the Economic and Social Research Institute said.

* EU clamps down on loss-making coalmines.

* Apple reported revenues of $15.7bn for its latest quarter, a jump of 61 per cent and well ahead of the $14.74bn that most