Goldman Sachs' first-quarter profit declined by 19% compared to the same period last year due to sluggish dealmaking that eroded fees from investment banking.

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The bank's consumer unit Marcus also weighed on the results, with Goldman booking a $470 million loss on the partial sale of its loan portfolio.

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CEO David Solomon had championed for years the foray into consumer banking, but it proved to be a flop, with the unit losing about $3 billion in three years.

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Goldman Sachs is now exploring strategic options for its consumer unit after reshuffling its businesses last year, leaning into its traditional mainstays of trading and investment banking, and beefing up its asset management arm.

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The bank's CEO described the events of the first quarter as another real-life stress test, as the global mergers and acquisitions activity shrank to its lowest level in more than a decade, according to data from Dealogic.

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The decline in mergers and acquisitions activity hurt Goldman's investment banking fees by 26% to $1.58 billion.

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Net revenue for the quarter fell by 5% to $12.22 billion.

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Goldman Sachs' earnings per share slid to $8.79 from $10.76 last year.

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The bank's shares were down nearly 3% at $329 in premarket trading.

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The bank is repositioning itself away from consumer banking and back towards its traditional strengths of investment banking, trading, and asset management.