Citigroup Inc. said Friday that its revenue fell 7% in the fourth quarter and that it had withdrawn some of the reserves it had set aside to cover potential secured loans.
According to the bank in New York, earnings fell to $ 4.63 billion, or $ 2.08 per share, compared to $ 4.98 billion, or $ 2.15 per share, a year earlier. It still beats the $ 1.34 expected by FactSet analysts.
Revenue fell 10% to $ 16.5 billion, less than the $ 16.72 billion analysts had expected.
For the whole of 2020 – a year of economic upheaval – profits at the country’s third largest bank of assets fell by 41% to $ 11.37 billion, and revenues were low at $ 74.3 billion. Like its large counterparts in the bank, Citigroup achieved strong results from its Wall Street operations, but this was offset by the billions of dollars they had to allocate for potentially bad loans.
In the sign that its outlook for the economy has improved, Citigroup has deducted $ 1.5 billion from the reserves it has set aside for future loan losses, a major reason why the bank’s profit was better than expected.