Goldman Sachs' vaunted commodities-trading team got butchered in 2017 (GS)

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Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

• Goldman Sachs' commodities-trading department in 2017 suffered the worst performance in the bank's history as a public company, according to a Bloomberg report.

• Commodities trading, once one of the bank's most vaunted businesses, saw revenues plummet 75% in 2017 to less than $300 million. 

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Goldman Sachs' commodities-trading team, once one of its most vaunted lines of business, has hit a new low. 

The group in 2017 suffered its worst showing in the bank's history as a public company, with commodities revenues falling 75%, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Based on Bloomberg's analysis, commodities trading revenues, which were $1.1 billion in 2016, dropped below $300 million in 2017 — less than half of what rival Morgan Stanley is expected to report. 

Commodities-trading revenues have fallen dramatically since reaching a high of $3.4 billion in 2009, but the expected 75% decline is the steepest year-over-year drop-off since that high point. 

Goldman Sachs, whose fixed income, currency, and commodities operation has suffered overall in 2017, reported earlier in the year that the second quarter was the worst in commodities in the firm's history as a public company.

The unit's dreadful year was driven by botched performances in gas and power, according to the report. 

Goldman Sachs will report fourth-quarter earnings results Wednesday. 

Read the full story at Bloomberg. 

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