April 14 Reuters Goldman Sachs Group Inc reported a massive jump in firstquarter profit on Wednesday, as Wall Streets biggest investment bank capitalized on record levels of global dealmaking activity.

It also benefited from a favorable comparison to a year earlier when it set aside more funds to cover potential corporate loan losses due to the coronavirus pandemic and marked down the value of some assets.

Net earnings applicable to common shareholders rose to 6.7 billion in the quarter ended March 31 from 1.12 billion in the same period a year ago.

Earnings per share rose to 18.60 from 3.11 a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected a profit of 10.22 per share, according to the IBES estimate from Refinitiv.

In March, Goldman had said its losses from a fire sale of stocks triggered by a meltdown of New York investment fund Archegos were immaterial.

Reporting by Anirban Sen in Bengaluru and Matt Scuffham in New York; Editing by Arun Koyyur

Source Reuters