Goldman Sachs had an incredibly lucrative fourth quarter in 2016, nearly quadrupling its profits for the year.
The bank rolled in $2.35 billion in the final quarter of the year, catalyzed by a 78 percent gain in currency, bonds, and commodities trading as the market soared after President-elect Donald Trump defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In fact, the stock is up 31 percent since Nov. 8.
The bank’s earnings were up higher than expectations for the year, closing at $5.08 per share. (RELATED: Here’s How The Market Looks One Month After A Trump Win)
The average salary package for a Goldman banker was down 8 percent on the year, sitting at $338,575.58, the New York Post reports. Just before the Great Recession, the average compensation at Goldman was $568,732.
“After a challenging first half, the firm performed well for the remainder of the year as the operating environment improved,” Lloyd Blankfein, chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs, said in a statement.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Goldman at the end of 2016. The bank agreed to pay $56.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit in U.S. courts that alleges it and other banks rigged interest rates in the derivatives market.
The settlement was agreed upon in December, after papers were filed in a Manhattan court, Reuters reports. Goldman’s agreement comes after several banks promised to pay a combined $324 million to resolve the lawsuit. Goldman has agreed to pay for lawyers for the plaintiffs’ investigation, which could be used in further litigation against the other remaining banks
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