Goldman Sachs, a premier Wall Street investment bank, yesterday said its third-quarter profits rose 29 per cent due to strong profits from trading stocks and fees for helping start-up companies sell shares to investors.

Goldman reported net income of $824 million, or $1.62 per diluted share, for the three months to August 25th. That compared with profits of $638 million, or $1.32 per diluted share, a year earlier and beat Wall Street forecasts of $1.51 per share. Total net revenues rose 33 per cent to a record $4.53 billion, propelled by revenues from trading, fees for helping companies sell stock, and merger advisory fees.