Citigroup fourth quarter beat analysts’ forecasts

Financial giant Citigroup reported a 7 percent rise in fourth quarter profits yesterday, helped by a strong performance in the bank’s trading business, a theme that has repeated itself with all the major Wall Street banks this quarter. The New York-based company said it earned $3.57 billion in the fourth quarter, or $1.14 per share, compared with $3.34 billion, or $1.02 per share, in the same period a year earlier. The results were slightly above analysts’ estimates of $1.12 per share.

Like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and other banks with significant trading operations, Citi’s trading desks did very well in the quarter. All the major Wall Street banks benefited from a broad market rally that occurred after the US presidential election. Citi’s institutional clients group, which includes the firm’s investment bank and trading, reported net income of $2.47 billion in the quarter compared with $1.26 billion in the same period a year earlier. Bond trading, one of Citi’s specialties reported a 36 percent rise in revenue.

Citi’s global consumer banking business, which includes its retail bank and credit card business, had net income of $1.27 billion, down 7 percent from a year earlier. While Citi said the business was helped by the acquisition of the Costco credit card business, other parts of the firm’s business saw declines. Citi has been trying to close or relocate branches to cut expenses. The US bank posted revenue of $20.29 billion in the period. Its adjusted revenue was $17.01 billion, which missed Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $17.05 billion. Citigroup’s stock has decreased almost 2 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index has climbed slightly more than 1 percent. The stock has risen 29 percent in the last 12 months. — AP