Goldman Sachs signalled its determination to be the first main bank to emerge from the financial crisis, revealing plans late on Monday to raise $5bn to pay back government funds and reporting stronger first-quarter earnings thanexpected of $1.81bn.

The bank said that, pending government approval, it would use the $5bn raised through the sale of common stock to help pay back the $10bn allocated to it last year as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Programme.