Citigroup beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter profit on Tuesday, according to The Manila Times. The bank was helped by stronger investment banking revenue, transactions with multinational companies and higher earnings from wealth management.
Citi reported a profit of $2.85 per share, against an analyst estimate of $2.66 compiled by LSEG. Net income was $5.25 billion, up from $3.8 billion a year earlier, and total revenue rose 8% to $23.8 billion, according to TIKR.
Investment banking revenue rose 9% year on year to $1.35 billion but fell 13% from the second quarter as equity and debt underwriting activity slowed. Trading revenue rose 6% year on year to $6.11 billion. Services was the fastest-growing of Citi's five businesses, with revenue up 15% and profit up 27%.
Return on tangible common equity was 11.5% in the quarter and 12.6% year to date, ahead of the bank's 11% target. Citi returned $4.1 billion to shareholders in the quarter, including buybacks and dividends, and has repurchased $13.3 billion of shares this year.
Chief executive Jane Fraser said the pipeline remains strong in M&A, debt refinancing and equity issuance, even though activity slowed from the record volume of previous quarters. TIKR reported that she called it the bank's best third quarter for revenue in a decade. Citi shares were down 3.2% in midday trading, reversing early gains.
Wall Street banks are working in a volatile market. The conflict in Iran has pushed oil prices higher, fuelling inflation, and the US Federal Reserve has raised interest rates while bond markets worldwide sold off. JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo also reported higher third-quarter profit on Tuesday. Citi shares have risen 9% this year, outperforming the broader bank stock index.
Related: Citigroup third-quarter profit jumped 40% as services and wealth revenues grew
Sources: manilatimes.net, tikr.com