Citigroup reports a surprising 4Q revenue miss
Citigroup reported an adjusted 4Q profit of $1.61 per share or $4.22 billion.
That is a big change from a year ago when a loss of $18.9 billion was reported due to a large write-down related to changes in the U.S. tax code.
The per share number topped the estimate for $1.55. Revenue fell 2 percent to $17.1 billion, which fell short of the estimate for $17.55 billion.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | CITIGROUP INC. | 69.82 | +0.88 | +1.28% |
Profit grew thanks to a lower overall tax rate and a 4 percent drop in expenses from a year earlier, to $9.9 billion.
"We made solid progress throughout 2018 towards our longer-term financial targets, ending the year with an RoTCE of 10.9% and an efficiency ratio of 57%. Our institutional and consumer franchises each grew revenue on a full year basis and we continued to invest in our people and technology in order to better serve our clients," said Citi CEO Michael Corbat. "During the year, we also grew loans and deposits, improved ROA, and carefully managed both our expenses and balance sheet. We also returned more than $18 billion of capital to common shareholders."
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Global consumer banking revenue at $8.4 billion was flat year-over-year, led by 1 percent growth in North America.
Revenue in the bank's credit-card business was up 1 percent from a year ago, to $5.1 billion.
JPMorgan Chase & Co and Wells Fargo & Co are set to report their results on Tuesday.