Citigroup income tops estimates, revenues slide
Citigroup saw net income tick ahead in the first quarter of its trading year despite a slight dip in revenues.
Citigroup Inc.
$63.32
11:09 09/05/24
The US bank reported a 2.1% improvement in net income of $4.7bn, or $1.87 per diluted share, on revenues of $18.6 billion - a 1.59% drop year-on-year.
Total revenue from investment banking amounted to $1.35bn, while debt underwriting brought in $804m, a 15% increase that beat estimates and offset some of the weakness seen over at Citi's equity capital markets unit. Advisory revenues rocketed 76% to $378m, coming in well ahead of the $307m projected by analysts.
On the other hand, revenue from equities trading tumbled to $842m from $930m after several big firms, including Citigroup, publicly warned investors that traders had gotten off to a weak start in 2019.
Costs fell 3% to $10.58bn and Citi's efficiency ratio, which measures how much it costs the bank to produce a dollar's worth of revenue, improved to 57%.
Citi repurchased $4.06bn in share buybacks during the quarter and also returned an additional $1.08bn to shareholders by way of common-stock dividends.
Chief executive Michael Corbat said: "Our earnings reflect the progress we are making to improve our return on and return of capital.
"Both our consumer and institutional businesses performed well and we saw good momentum in those areas where we have been investing, such as US branded cards, treasury and trade solutions, and investment banking. Importantly, our strategy in North America consumer banking is showing good early results as we introduce new products and engage with a broader range of customers, through digital channels."
As of 1330 BST, Citigroup shares had ticked up 0.19% in pre-market trading to $67.55 each.