By Steve Eder
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc
But the move also helped boost its quarterly earnings. And Goldman Sachs employees need not lose any sleep. They are still on track to get an average of $630,000 each, rivaling their record bonus haul in 2007.
And that average number -- which puts the bank far ahead of rivals -- is based on Goldman's full work force, including assistants and other support staff.
Goldman has been heavily criticized for setting aside so much for its bonus pool so soon after the firm repaid $10 billion in taxpayers bailouts. This year, Goldman has set aside $16.8 billion for bonuses, and looks well on track to break the $20 billion mark.
Goldman Chief Financial Office David Viniar, on a call with reporters across the world, was peppered with questions about how the firm would pay its employees at year-end.
He had little to say on the topic, repeating the refrain that all compensation decisions would be made at the end of the year.
"We are giving it a lot of thought," Viniar said.
While Goldman typically devotes about half of its net earnings to pay and benefits, another robust quarter allowed Goldman to drop the ratio of compensation to revenue to about 43 percent while still setting aside $5.4 billion for pay.
Analysts said the move padded quarterly earnings, which in fact healthily beat analysts' forecasts.
"This upside does not qualify as high on the 'quality' scale," Roger Freeman, an analyst with Barclay's Capital said in a research note.
Goldman also announced it had made a $200 million donation to the Goldman Sachs Foundation, its not-for-profit charitable arm. Viniar would not say whether that donation was part of a larger good-will campaign and if the company would repeat it.
Contrary to some recent press reports, there was also no mention of a company-wide charity drive to address the firm's image concerns.
Viniar insisted the company is keenly aware of the world outside of Goldman, which continues to suffer from job losses and home foreclosures.
"We are very focused on what is going on in the world," Viniar said. "We are focused on the economic climate."
But he said the firm was committed to paying for performance -- performance he called "fantastic" in light of the downturn of the larger economy and the near-collapse of the financial sector last year.
(Reporting by Steve Eder; Editing by Richard Chang)