Goldman's net falls 72 pct after Buffett dividend

NEW YORK — Goldman Sachs' first-quarter income fell 72 percent after the bank paid out $1.64 billion in dividends as it redeemed preferred shares it issued to billionaire investor Warren Buffett during the financial crisis.

The New York investment bank on Tuesday said it earned $908 million, or $1.56 per share, compared with $3.3 billion, or $5.59 a share in the first quarter of last year.

Excluding the dividend payment, its earnings per common share were $4.38, beating estimates of $3.95 from analysts surveyed by FactSet.

Revenue fell to $11.9 billion from $12.8 billion in the same period last year.

The Federal Reserve last month gave Goldman Sachs Group Inc. permission to repay Berkshire Hathaway.

Goldman's stock rose 1.8 percent to $156.59 in pre-market trading.