Goldman Q2 net falls 83% on SEC charge,revenue decline

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said Tuesday its second-quarter net income dropped 83 percent to $453 million as its trading revenue fell and it booked a charge for its settlement of civil fraud charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission....

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said Tuesday its second-quarter net income dropped 83 percent to $453 million as its trading revenue fell and it booked a charge for its settlement of civil fraud charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The companys revenue fell short of expectations and helped send the stock market falling. Goldman followed IBM Corp. and Texas Instruments Inc.,which late Monday reported revenue that disappointed investors. Goldmans stock dropped $1.89 to $143.79 in morning trading.

Goldman took a $550 million charge to cover the cost of the settlement with the SEC that was announced last week. Earnings were also reduced by a one-time,$600 million charge tied to a new tax on bonuses in Britain. Excluding the one-time costs,net income after payment of dividends on preferred stock came to $2.75 per share,easily topping the $2.08 analysts forecast. Analysts typically exclude one-time charges from their estimates.

Revenue fell 36 percent to $8.84 billion,short of the $8.94 billion predicted by analysts. The drop that a number of companies have reported is unnerving investors,who see it as a sign that the economic recovery is stalling. Banks have their own revenue issues. Goldmans revenue fell along with that of competitors including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. that were hit hard by the plunge in the stock market.