Goldman’s Leme Says Brazil Unit Returned to Profitability

Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s Brazil unit returned to profitability in the fourth quarter as the departure of several managing directors helped cut costs and fixed-income gains offset an investment-banking revenue drop.

“We made the right decision in anticipating that this year would be less vibrant for investment banking, and had some opportunities for cost reductions when some executives left after receiving good job offers,” Paulo Leme, named Goldman Sachs’s president and chief executive officer for Brazil today, said in an interview in Sao Paulo. Leme, 59, didn’t say how long the New York-based company had been losing money in Brazil.