Goldman Sachs Upbeat Despite 81% Profit Drop

Private investment bank Goldman, Sachs & Co. on Monday reported an 81% drop in quarterly pretax profit to $107 million because of this summer’s global market turmoil, but officials were cautiously upbeat about the future.

The 129-year-old partnership, which this fall withdrew plans to sell a stake in the firm to the public, also remains committed to a public share offering but has not set a timetable, co-Chief Executives Jon Corzine and Henry Paulson said in a telephone interview.

Factors that are likely to guide Goldman in its timing for an offering include a recovery in shares of publicly traded financial firms and a turnaround in Goldman’s profit, Corzine and Paulson said. The New York firm put off plans to go public because, among other things, a sharp decline in financial shares had depressed Goldman’s potential value in an offering.

For the firm, which derives the bulk of its revenue from trading securities, the profit decline for its fourth quarter ended Nov. 27 was its worst quarterly result in almost four years. Goldman’s revenue plummeted 43%, to $915 million from $1.6 billion during the same period a year ago.

As a private partnership, Goldman reports only quarterly revenue and profit before taxes and partners’ contributions.