Mubasher: Goldman Sachs on Tuesday posted a 40% year-on-year surge in its earnings for the second quarter of 2018, registering $2.57 billion.

The US bank’s earnings dropped 9% in Q2-18, from 2.83 billion in the same period a year earlier.

Diluted earnings per common share (EPS) rose 51% to $5.98 in the period between April to June, compared to Q2-17, but declined 14% quarter-on-quarter over the three months.

Net revenues climbed 19% year-on-year to $9.40 billion in Q2-18, marking the highest second quarter in nine years. This increase reflected higher net revenues across all segments, according to the lender’s financial statement.

However, the New York-headquartered bank saw its revenue declining 6% in the April-to-June period of 2018 from the previous comparative period.

“Solid performance across all of our major businesses drove the strongest first-half returns in nine years,” Goldman’s CEO Lloyd Blankfein said.

In the first half of this year, Goldman Sachs said that its earnings rose 32% to $5.40 billion from the same half last year, while the lender saw a 42% rise in EPS to $12.93 from $9.10.

The bank’s net revenues rose 22% to $19.44 billion in H1-18, from the same period last year.

 “With a healthy economic backdrop and deep client franchises, the firm is well-positioned to invest in attractive opportunities to meet the needs of our clients and continue to generate earnings growth,” Blankfein added.