Goldman Sachs Q2 Earnings Plunge 82% after $550M Subprime Suit

Investment bank ""Goldman Sachs"":http://www.goldmansachs.com said Tuesday that its second quarter profit plummeted 82 percent to its lowest level since 2008.

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The Wall Street fixture explained in its ""earnings announcement"":http://www2.goldmansachs.com/our-firm/press/press-releases/current/2010-07-20-q2-results.html that the disappointing second quarter numbers were the product of a tough trading environment; the company's ""$550 million dollar settlement"":http://dsnews.comarticles/goldman-sachs-pays-550m-to-settle-sec-fraud-suit-2010-07-16 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over mortgage-related fraud charges; and a $600 million payout for the U.K. bank payroll tax.

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Goldman pulled in a profit of $613 million, or $0.78 per share, during the second quarter of 2010. That compares to earnings of $3.4 billion, or $4.93 a share, in 2009's second quarter.

""The market environment became more difficult during the second quarter and, as a result, client activity across our businesses declined,"" said Lloyd C. Blankfein, the company's chairman and CEO. ""Looking ahead, we remain focused on helping our clients to raise capital, manage risk and invest for the future, which are all important to economic growth.""

The credit rating agency ""DBRS"":http://www.dbrs.com says Goldman's financials are ""indicative of the company's ability to weather a difficult environment.""

While Goldman's second quarter revenues were down substantially in most business lines, DBRS says they are generally comparable to other capital markets participants.

""Taking into account Goldman's strong 1Q10 results, DBRS views the company's results for the first half of the year as being in-line with the company's 2009 results,"" DBRS said in emailed commentary.