Goldman mulling stock offering - report
Bank may sell shares to investors in a bid to repay its $10 billion government loan, Wall Street Journal says.
LONDON (CNNMoney.com) -- Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs is mulling a new stock sale to repay the $10 billion loan it received from the government last year, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
Goldman (GS, Fortune 500) could announce the offering to investors as early as next week, the report said. The company hasn't decided on the final size of the sale, but it is expected to be in the range of several billion dollars, the newspaper said.
In the weeks after the collapse of Lehman Brothers last September, Goldman got $10 billion from the Treasury Department under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Those funds came with many obligations, and many investors have been wondering when the firm would pay it back. ("Payback time for Goldman Sachs?")
According to the Journal, the recent stock rally has spurred the company to make the offering. Stocks have risen for five straight weeks, and bank shares soared on Thursday after Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500) said it expects to post a $3 billion profit for its most recent quarter.
Goldman is scheduled to release its first-quarter results Tuesday. Other financial firms on tap to report earnings next week include Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500). 
