Citigroup 4Q profit down 7%, revenue drops by 10%

NEW YORK (AP) — Citigroup Inc. says earnings for the fourth quarter of 2020 fell 7% to $4.63 billion.

The New York-based bank said it had earnings of $2.08 per share, down from $2.15 per share a year earlier. Earnings, adjusted to account for discontinued operations, were $2.07 per share.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.35 per share.

The U.S. bank posted revenue of $16.5 billion, down 10% from a year ago and below Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $16.58 billion.

Citigroup educed its credit loss reserves by $1.5 billion due to an improved outlook for the global economy and a reduction in credit losses in its global consumer banking division. The amount set aside for potentially bad loans remains elevated, however, at $25 billion, about double what it was at the end of 2019.

Citigroup shares have risen 12% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index has increased 1%. The stock has dropped 16% in the last 12 months.

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This story was partially generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on C at https://www.zacks.com/ap/C

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