OREANDA-NEWS. Goldman Sachs Group's (GS) second quarter 2015 (2Q15) reported earnings were marred by a significant litigation charge related to legacy residential mortgage backed securities litigation. Excluding this charge, Fitch views GS's second quarter earnings performance as comparatively good.

The company's annualized return on average equity (ROE) in 2Q15 was 4.8%, including the $1.45 billion litigation charge noted above. Excluding this charge for the quarter would have netted an annualized ROE of approximately 11.5%, which is satisfactory but lower than the sequential quarter's results.

Fitch calculated pre-tax profits which excluded CVA/DVA adjustments and various other gains/losses, amounted to $1.5 billion, or a 0.72% adjusted pre-tax return on ending assets. Given the charge noted above, this is well below the results of some peer institutions. Excluding the litigation charge would imply Fitch calculated pre-tax profits of $3.0 billion, or a 1.39% adjusted pre-tax return on ending assets, which is more inline with the results of some peer institutions during the quarter, but below GS's sequential adjusted pre-tax return on ending assets of 1.84%.

GS' investment banking net revenue was up 6% relative to the sequential quarter and 13% relative to the year-ago quarter. Relative to the sequential quarter debt and equity underwriting net revenue were up 47% and 12% respectively due to a strong IPO market, while advisory net revenue was down 15%. Relative to the year-ago quarter debt underwriting was down 17%, equity underwriting was up 9%, while advisory net revenue was up 62% due to a continued strong mergers & acquisitions environment.

Offsetting the comparatively good performance in investment banking was weakness in GS' institutional client services (ICS) business (particularly in Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities (FICC). Overall ICS net revenue was down 34% relative to the sequential quarter and 6% relative to the year-ago quarter. As noted, the biggest drag in ICS was the Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities (FICC) segment, which had benefited from high foreign exchange (FX) and commodities volatility in the sequential quarter.

GS' investment management business did well during 2Q15 primarily driven by higher incentive fees realized during the quarter as assets under management (AUM) and assets under supervision (AUS) were sequentially relatively flat during the quarter and modestly up relative to the year-ago quarter.

Overall costs were up due largely to the aforementioned litigation charge noted above. The company did, however, achieve some reductions in compensation and benefits expense during the quarter.

With some more subdued volatility during the quarter relative to the sequential quarter, GS's average daily Value-at-Risk (VaR) measurement was $77 million in 2Q15, down from $81 million in the sequential quarter and flat from $77 million in the year-ago quarter. The biggest drivers of the decline were lower commodities and rates VaR.

In Fitch's view, GS' capital ratios and liquidity metrics remain consistent with the rating category (Viability Rating of 'a') given Fitch's assessment of the inherent cyclicality of GS' business model.

The company's transitionally phased-in Basel III Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio under the standardized approach (GS' binding constraint) was 11.8% at 2Q15 and under the advanced approach was 12.5%. The company's Enhanced Supplementary Leverage Ratio (SLR) at the parent company of 5.7% was above the 5.0% requirement. Additionally, GS' Global Core Liquid Assets (GCLA) was $189bn at the end of 2Q15.