Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) beat analysts’ expectations for second-quarter profit and revenue on gains from the initial public offering of electronic bond trading platform Tradeweb.
The bank on Monday posted profit of $4.79 billion, or $1.95 per share, compared with the $1.80 estimate of analysts. Excluding the impact of the IPO, the bank would have posted $1.83 per share in profit, fueled by lower taxes and a reduction in the number of outstanding shares.
While per share profit surged 20% in the quarter, the company’s revenue gain was more muted on declines in trading and investment banking revenue and losses on loan hedges, the bank said. Revenue climbed 2% to $18.76 billion, exceeding the $18.5 billion estimate, powered by a $350 million pretax gain on the Tradeweb IPO, the bank said.
Revenue came in at $18.5 billion, almost unchanged from a year earlier.
"We navigated an uncertain environment successfully by executing our strategy, and by showing disciplined expense, credit and risk management," CEO Michael Corbat said in the earnings release.
Citigroup is the first of the big U.S. banks to report second-quarter results, so investors are keen to see how its banking and trading operations performed during the period.
Last month, CFO Mark Mason said at a conference that trading revenue in the quarter would likely decline by a "mid-single-digit" percentage from a year ago.
Shares of the New York-based bank climbed 38% so far this year, compared to the 16% gain of the KBW Bank Index.
Shares in C faded $1.24, or 1.7%, to $70.53
