Goldman Sachs reports second ever quarterly loss

US banking giant Goldman Sachs has reported a loss of $428m (£272m), worse than analysts had been expecting.

The group, delivering its third quarter results, confirmed it had made only its second quarterly loss as a public company, following forecasts last week from analysts it would post a loss. The loss of $428m compared to profits of $1.7bn in the third quarter of 2010, and meant the basic loss per share for investors was $0.84, compared to a profit of $3.19 in Q3 2010. Analysts had forecast a loss of just $0.16 per share. Revenues across the whole company fell from $8.9bn to $3.6bn year on year, down 60%, and was also 51% lower than Q2 of this year. Chief executive Lloyd Blankfein ...