Goldman earns $3.3B in 1Q as fraud case looms

[April 20, 2010]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. says its first-quarter earnings almost doubled to $3.3 billion as its trading business again surpassed the rest of the financial industry. It was a bit of good news for the bank as it faces a government civil fraud charge.

The company says it set aside 43 percent of revenue in the first three months of the year to pay employee salaries and bonuses, down from 50 percent for the same period last year.

Goldman Sachs earned $5.59 a share on revenue of $12.78 billion as bond, commodities and currency trading buoyed its profits for yet another quarter. That was well above expectations of analysts surveyed by Reuters Thomson.

Goldman Sachs also reported sharply higher fees from underwriting stock and debt offerings.

The bank's stock more than 1 percent in pre-opening trading.

[Associated Press; By STEVENSON JACOBS]

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