Citigroup Vaults On Beating Quarterly Projections

Citigroup (NYSE: C) reported better-than-expected quarterly results on Thursday, as its global consumer business showed further revenue growth.
 
Earnings per Share came in for the quarter at $1.42, as opposed to $1.32 expected by experts. Revenue was $18.173 billion versus $17.896 billion expected. Fixed income trading: $2.877 billion versus a projected $2.84 billion
 
Said CEO Michael Corbat, "We had revenue increases in many of the products we have been investing in, tightly managed our expenses, and again saw loan growth in both our consumer and institutional businesses.”
 
Citi reported a 3% year-over-year increase in global consumer banking revenue. In North America, retail banking revenue rose 12%, excluding mortgages. Citi cited "continued growth in loans and assets under management," as well as higher interest rates.
 
The bank's international consumer business saw an 8% revenue increase, driven by higher loans and deposit volumes growth.
 
Citi's end-of-period loans, meanwhile, rose 2% to $653 billion, while deposits increased by 3% to $964 billion.
 
Shares of Citigroup have risen 26% this year, easily outperforming the broader market. The S&P 500 has gained 14% in 2017.
 
Citigroup's stock has also outperformed those of other big banks. Shares of JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America are up 11.9% and 16.9%,, respectively.
 
Folks who follow macroeconomic developments are also aware that Citigroup could benefit from tighter monetary policy in the near future. The U.S. Federal Reserve signaled a December rate hike in the summary of its Sept. 20 meeting.

Shares in C opened Thursday took on 31 cents to $75.25.