Goldman Sachs' first-quarter income fell 72 percent after the bank paid $1.64 billion in dividends to redeem preferred shares it issued to billionaire investor Warren Buffett during the financial crisis.

The New York investment bank said Tuesday that it earned $908 million, or $1.56 per share, compared with $3.3 billion, or $5.59 a share in the first quarter of last year.

Excluding the dividend payment, earnings per common share were $4.38, beating the $3.95 per share forecast of analysts surveyed by FactSet.

Revenue fell 7 percent to $11.9 billion on weakness in the bank's core businesses of trading stocks and bonds and advising clients. Goldman's stock fell 0.9 percent to $152.38 in late morning trading.

The Federal Reserve gave Goldman Sachs Group Inc. permission to repay Berkshire Hathaway last month. While the Fed's decision wasn't a surprise given Goldman's ever-widening profits since the financial crisis, it reflected how far Goldman and other major banks have progressed from the darkest days of September 2008.

At that time, Buffett, who is CEO of Berkshire, helped shore up confidence in Goldman Sachs by making a $5 billion investment in the company. Berkshire received preferred shares that paid a 10 percent annual dividend. Goldman's second-quarter earnings will likely be affected by the redemption, which occurred on April 18.

Shares in British luxury goods company Burberry Group PLC jumped Tuesday after the company reported strong second-half sales and predicted a full-year profit at the top end of market forecasts.

Burberry's popularity in the Asia Pacific region, particularly Hong Kong and Taiwan, led sales 33 percent higher in the six months to March 31, compared to a year earlier.

Chief Executive Angela Ahrendts said the company expects full-year pretax profit to be at the top end of market forecasts, or around 347 million pounds ($564 million).

"While the luxury industry faces global challenges in the year ahead, we remain confident in our team's ability to outperform, underpinned by the consistent execution of our key strategies," said Ahrendts in a trading update.

Retail revenues were 42 percent higher at 596 million pounds ($972 million), while wholesale revenues rose 14 percent to 214 million pounds ($349 million).

Shares in the company, known for its distinctive red, black and brown plaid fabric, were up 6 percent at 1,216 pence in midmorning trade on the London Stock Exchange.

Federal authorities say a stock trader and a lawyer, working with a middleman, made millions by using advance knowledge of mergers and acquisitions gleaned from the computers of prestigious New York law firms.

With confidential information plundered from some of New York's most prestigious law firms, a corporate finance attorney, a Wall Street trader and a "middleman" bought hundreds of thousands of shares in companies about to be acquired, selling them when the deals were done to net millions of dollars in instant profit, federal officials allege.

After each haul — totaling at least $32 million over nearly 17 years, according to federal investigators — the men met in Atlantic City casinos, where they believed they could share their large cash spoils without attracting attention.

But on Wednesday, in one of the biggest insider trading cases to date, authorities arrested the lawyer and the trader. No charges have been filed against the unnamed middleman.

The two arrested men, Matthew H. Kluger, a Washington, D.C., attorney, and Garrett D. Bauer, a professional stock trader, have each been charged with more than a dozen counts of securities fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice. They also face insider trading charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Dollar Financial Corp. said Tuesday that it plans to offer 5 million shares of its common stock to help fund its purchase of a payday loan company in England.

Dollar Financial which offers financial services like check-cashing mostly to lower-income customers, didn't say in its news release how much it expects the offering to raise.

But it said it plans to lend the money to its subsidiary Dollar Financial U.K. Limited, which bought payday lender Purpose U.K. Holdings on Friday for $195 million using revolving credit.

Dollar Financial will grant the underwriters an option to buy up to 750,000 additional shares to cover over-allotments, if any. Credit Suisse Securities LLC and Nomura Securities International Inc. are serving as joint book runners.

The offering was announced after the markets closed Tuesday, and Dollar Financial's shares initially fell more than 4 percent after hours. They settled around $21.77, down 38 cents, or less than 2 percent

Some analysts raised their price targets for Abercrombie & Fitch Co. on Wednesday, citing the retailer's strong 2012 earnings outlook and international prospects.

During an analyst day on Tuesday, Abercrombie & Fitch forecast 2012 earnings of $4.75 per share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expect earnings of $4.31 per share.

The New Albany, Ohio-based chain also forecast revenue of $7.5 billion or more by 2015.

Edward Yruma of KeyBanc Capital Markets said in a client note that the revenue guidance relies mostly on aggressive overseas growth. He boosted the company's price target to $75 from $65 and maintained a "Buy" rating.

Betty Chen at Wedbush Securities boosted Abercrombie & Fitch's price target to $60 from $57 and kept a "Neutral" rating. She also increased the company's 2011 earnings estimate to $2.95 from $2.85 per share and raised her 2012 forecast to $4.75 from $3.88 per share, citing more international store openings.

But Chen said in a client note that the stock has been outperforming of late and that she "would prefer to become more constructive on a pullback as we remain concerned with the ability to increase U.S. store productivity given the domestic retail environment."

Retailers in the U.S. struggled during the recession as consumers pulled back on spending. Rising costs have pressured many to raise prices or prepare to boost prices, leaving experts to wonder how shoppers will react when they are also contending with increasing gas prices.