Citigroup Earnings Rise 74% to $3.8 Billion
By ERIC DASH
5:14 p.m. | Updated with closing stock price.
With a big push from a one-time accounting gain, Citigroup on Monday squeezed out its seventh consecutive quarterly profit, but it faces significant challenges to growth.
Citigroup announced a third-quarter profit of $3.8 billion, or $1.23 a share, beating analyst consensus estimates of 81 cents a share. That represented a 74 percent increase from a year ago, when the bank announced a quarterly profit of $2.2 billion, or 72 cents a share.
But a big portion of that increase came from gains that will be difficult to repeat. Citigroup benefited from a paper gain of $1.9 billion, reflecting a sharp increase in the perceived riskiness of its debt — an accounting adjustment that gave JPMorgan Chase a similar earnings increase last week. Citigroup also delivered another $1.4 billion to its bottom line from money it had previously set aside to cover losses on credit cards and other loans. Together, those items accounted for more than 85 percent of the company’s earnings.
for complete:
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/10/17/citigroup-earnings-rise-74-to-3-8-billion/?hp
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