Goldman Sachs reported that it earned $13.4 billion for 2009 on revenues of $45.2 billion, or $22.13 per diluted common share, versus $4.47 for the year ended November 28, 2008. For the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2009, the firm reported earnings of $4.9 billion on revenues of $9.6 billion, with earnings per diluted common share of $8.20, versus a loss of $4.97 per diluted common share for the fourth quarter ended November 28, 2008.
The 2008-year earnings ended November 28 because that was the traditional year-end for Goldman Sachs–and some other broker/dealers as well–before Goldman Sachs became a bank holding company as it did in the fall of 2008, according to Samuel Robinson, a Goldman Sachs spokesperson. Once Goldman Sachs became a bank holding company, it was required to switch to a December 31 year end, which it did for 2009. December 2008 became a one-off "stub month" and was reported with the first quarter 2009 earnings. But, oddly, the December 2008 "stub" month gets left out of the year-over-year earnings.
For the full Goldman Sachs release, click here.
See related Morgan Stanley news, here.
