Citigroup Q4 Earnings: 12% Topline Growth, $2.9 Billion Net Income, $20 Billion Share Buyback, Gains In Wealth And Market Segments

Citigroup Inc C reported a fourth-quarter fiscal 2024 revenue growth of 12% year-over-year to $19.58 billion, beating the analyst consensus of $19.48 billion. Excluding Argentina’s currency devaluation and divestiture-related impacts, revenues are up 7%.

GAAP EPS of $1.34 beat the analyst consensus estimate of $1.22.

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The stock climbed after the quarterly print in the premarket session.

Net credit losses were $2.24 billion, up 12% year over year. Services revenue grew 15% year over year to $5.2 billion, primarily reflecting continued momentum in securities services, treasury and trade solutions.

Markets revenue increased by 36% year over year to $4.6 billion, driven by growth in equity and fixed-income markets revenues.

Banking revenue increased 27% year over year to $1.2 billion, primarily driven by growth in Investment Banking. U.S. Personal Banking revenue grew 6% year over year to $5.2 billion, driven by higher net interest income.

Wealth revenue grew 20% to $2.0 billion, driven by a 22% increase in non-interest revenue and a 20% increase in net interest income. All other revenue declined 34% Y/Y to $1.4 billion, driven by net investment securities losses.

Net income of $2.9 billion compared to a net loss of $(1.8) billion Y/Y. Operating expenses stood at $13.2 billion, a decrease of 18% year over year.

The total allowance for credit losses on loans was $18.6 billion compared to $18.1 billion Y/Y, with a reserve-to-funded loans ratio of 2.70%, unchanged Y/Y.

Citigroup’s end-of-period loans were $694 billion at the quarter’s end, up 1% year over year, mainly reflecting growth in branded cards and retail banking in USPB and higher loans in markets and services.

At quarter end, deposits were ~$1.3 trillion, down 2% from the prior year, primarily due to decreases in markets, wealth and all other.

At the end of the quarter, Citigroup’s book value per share was $101.62 (+3% Y/Y) and its tangible book value was $89.34 (+4% Y/Y).

Buyback: On January 13, Citigroup’s board approved a new, multi-year $20 billion share buyback program that will begin in the first quarter of 2025.

Outlook: Citigroup expects a fiscal 2025 revenue outlook of $83.5 billion-$84.5 billion, compared to the consensus of $83.24 billion.

Citi CEO Jane Fraser now expects a 2026 RoTCE of 10%-11% (versus 7.0% in 2024) to make additional investments in its businesses and transformation.

Truist Securities expects bank stocks, including Citigroup, to benefit from loan growth, a steeper yield curve, and capital for expansion.

Price Action: C stock is up 4.59% at $76.90 premarket at the last check on Wednesday.

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