Goldman to Report $5/Share Loss: Report

Goldman Sachs(GS Quote) is likely to report a net loss of as much as $2 billion for its quarter ended Nov. 28, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing industry insiders.

The loss, equal to about $5 a share, would be about five times as steep as the current analyst consensus for the Wall Street firm, as it faces write-downs on everything from private equity to commercial real estate, the newspaper reports. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect Goldman to report a fourth-quarter loss of $1.06 a share.

Analysts and investors have been bracing for Goldman's first quarterly loss since it went public in 1999. But pessimism has grown sharply.

"The last two weeks have been nothing short of horrible, with asset prices coming under ever more pressure than before," said Susan Katzke, an analyst at Credit Suisse, who on Monday reduced her Goldman estimate to a fiscal fourth-quarter loss of $4 a share, the Journal reports. She previously projected a profit of $2.47 a share.

Goldman is expected to report quarterly results in a few weeks.

Goldman registered as a commercial bank in October and is struggling to find its way in the new Wall Street, where the sort of risky bets the firm mastered as it was piling up record profits just a year ago are being curtailed, the Journal reports.

One area that is thought to have given Goldman particular problems in the fourth quarter was its "book" of so-called distressed investments, the Journal reports.

Shares of Goldman fell 17% on Monday to $65.76.