July 9 (Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is on track to beat its 2007 trading-revenue record, enabling it to boost compensation by an estimated 64 percent from last year, according to Bank of America Corp. analyst Guy Moszkowski.
Goldman Sachs has “unmatched risk-taking/risk-management skills in a market that strongly rewards these because of decline in competitor risk appetite,” Moszkowski wrote in a note to investors today. The New York-based firm “appears on track to accrue significantly more comp than ‘08, despite little change in headcount.”
Six months ago, Goldman Sachs was supported by $10 billion from the U.S. Treasury and relied on government guarantees to issue debt. Moszkowski predicts the company will reap $26.45 billion from trading this year, a gain from $25.36 billion in 2007 when the firm shattered Wall Street profit records.
Moszkowski said the firm will set aside 44.2 percent of total revenue to pay compensation and benefits, letting it pay workers $17.92 billion compared with $10.9 billion last year. Goldman Sachs had 27,898 employees at the end of March. If that number remains unchanged and Moszkowski’s compensation estimate is correct, it would mean an average of $642,447 per employee.
Moszkowski raised his recommendation on Goldman Sachs shares today to “buy” from “neutral” after determining that second-quarter earnings will be higher than analysts expect. Moszkowski increased his estimate for Goldman Sachs’s earnings to $3.90 a share from $2.92. The average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was for $3.52 per share.
Goldman Sachs shares have risen 64 percent this year and closed at $138.55 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange trading.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a6qIBznBttBcGS has been selling a lot of treasury bonds. Sounds like welfare to me!
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