The chief operating officer of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS warned Thursday that the investment bank is expecting a 25% slump in trading revenue for the second-quarter in what he called a “pretty difficult” environment for banks, according to media reports. John Waldron made the comment at a conference in New York, at which he said Goldman expects to cut about 250 jobs in what will be a third round of layoffs. The bank laid off 3,200 workers in January after cutting a few hundred in September. It had about 45,000 employees as of March 31. Investment banks are currently struggling with a drought in deal-making and equity issuance. Waldron said activity with private equity firms is also subdued and the bank is seeing less activity with larger companies. Goldman’s stock was down 1.7% Thursday and has lost 7% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 10%.
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