Citigroup announced its first-quarter earnings results Friday morning.
The bank reported earnings of $1.68, beating analysts' expectations of adjusted earnings per share of $1.61. That's a more than 24% increase from last year.
The impressive growth was "driven by growth in both the Institutional Clients Group (ICG) and Global Consumer Banking (GCB), partially offset by lower revenues in Corporate / Other primarily due to the continued wind-down of legacy assets," the bank said in a statement.
Here are the key numbers:
- Revenue: $18.9 billion, 3% increase from last year.
- Adjusted net income: $4.6 billion, 13% increase from last year, "primarily driven by the higher revenues and a lower effective tax rate, which more than offset the higher expenses and cost of credit."
- Card purchases: 122 million, a 8% increase from last year.
- Trading: Equity markets revenues saw a big 38% increase, driven by the spike in volatility in quarter one. Revenues from fixed income was lackluster, decreasing by 7%.
“Our first quarter results demonstrate strength and balance across our franchise and position us well for the rest of the year. We grew revenue across both our institutional and consumer businesses and delivered solid, client-led revenue gains in areas we have been investing in such as Citibanamex, TTS, Equities and the Private Bank," chief executive Michael Corbat said.
The fourth-quarter of 2017, by comparison, was noisy and uneven thanks in part to the new tax law, which caused many banks to book one-time losses on repatriated cash and deferred tax assets that declined in value.
For Citi that included a one-time, noncash charge of $22 billion, on account of the new tax law.
