Goldman Sachs' net profit for the third quarter of 2023 plummeted to $2.06 billion from a previous $3.07 billion, primarily due to significant writedowns on its fintech business GreenSky and real estate investments. The decrease in profit led to a minor dip in the bank's premarket trading share.
The bank's venture into consumer banking proved costly, resulting in a cumulative loss of $3 billion over three years. This prompted CEO David Solomon to shift the bank's focus back towards traditional strengths such as investment banking and trading, while also targeting growth in asset and wealth management.
Goldman Sachs absorbed a writedown of $506 million on GreenSky, exacerbating a previous second-quarter hit of $1.4 billion. The fintech business was later sold off to a consortium led by Sixth Street Partners for $1.7 billion.
Real estate investments also posed significant challenges for the bank, with an impairment charge of $358 million negatively impacting revenue from the asset and wealth management unit.
Despite these setbacks, Goldman Sachs' investment banking remained resilient with fees at $1.55 billion, largely due to the resurgence of debt underwriting activity and a robust initial public offering (IPO) market.
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