Equity Underwriting

Goldman Sachs held the top spot among arrangers of global equity, equity-linked and rights offerings in the first quarter, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It ranked second in advising on announced mergers and acquisitions and fifth in underwriting U.S. bonds, the data show. The firm said its investment-banking backlog fell from the end of December.

Fixed-income, currency and commodity trading revenue was $3.22 billion, down 7 percent from a year earlier and up 58 percent from the fourth quarter. Excluding a $42 million accounting adjustment, revenue was $3.26 billion. That compared with estimates of $3.25 billion from Credit Suisse Group AG’s Howard Chen and $3.1 billion from Staite at Atlantic Equities.

Revenue from the equities division, overseen by co-Chief Operating Officers R. Martin Chavez, Michael D. Daffey and Paul M. Russo, declined 15 percent from a year earlier to $1.92 billion. Excluding a $35 million accounting adjustment, revenue was $1.96 billion. That missed Staite’s $2.05 billion estimate, and matched Barclays Plc’s Roger Freeman’s projection.

“The potential for macroeconomic instability was felt in the quarter and constrained overall corporate and investor activity,” Blankfein said in the statement.

Sales, Trading

Total revenue from sales and trading, led globally by Pablo J. Salame and Isabelle Ealet, was $5.14 billion. That was below the $5.45 billion at Citigroup Inc. and $6.09 billion at JPMorgan.

Citigroup yesterday reported that fixed-income trading rose 69 percent from the fourth quarter, topping analysts’ estimates. JPMorgan, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, reported earnings on April 12 that beat estimates as expenses dropped 16 percent.

Bank of America Corp., the second-largest lender, is set to release results tomorrow. Morgan Stanley, the sixth-biggest bank, is due on April 18.

Investing and Lending, which includes gains and losses on Goldman Sachs’s own investments in stocks, debt, real estate, private equity and hedge funds, as well as loans, posted first- quarter revenue of $2.07 billion, up from $1.91 billion a year earlier and the highest in two years.