Goldman Sachs 2nd-qtr profit beats expectations, driven by asset management, underwriting

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the world's largest investment bank, on Tuesday reported higher fees from asset management and stock underwriting pushed second-quarter profits well above Wall Street's lowered expectations.

The company reported a profit of $2.05 billion, or $4.58 per share, compared to $2.29 billion, or $4.93 per share a year earlier. Revenue fell 7 percent to $9.42 billion from $10.18 billion a year earlier.

That easily surpassed Wall Street expectations for a profit of $3.42 per share on $8.74 billion of revenue, according to analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

Shares of the company rose $3.29 to $185.38 in premarket trading.

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