Normally we see JP Morgan kickoff earning season, but this time Citigroup gets to kick things off. Citigroup reported a beat on fourth quarter EPS at $1.61, higher than the $1.55 analysts’ consensus. Revenue missed with a $17.1 billion print, much lower than the eyed $17.6 billion consensus.
Citigroup shares are lower by 1.4% in the premarket trade as Wall Street focused on the steep 21% decline in fixed income markets. They noted it reflected a challenging trading environment characterized by volatile market conditions and widening credit spreads, particularly in December.
CEO Michael Corbat noted, “A volatile fourth quarter impacted some of our market sensitive businesses, particularly Fixed Income. However, our ICG accrual businesses – Treasury and Trade Solutions, Securities Services, Private Bank and Corporate Lending – continued their strong performance. And in Global Consumer Banking, we had good underlying growth in U.S. Branded Cards and solid performance from our franchise in Mexico where we have been investing. For 2019, we remain committed to delivering a 12% RoTCE and continuing to improve our operating efficiency during the year.”
US Stocks are poised to open much lower with the Dow set to open lower by 200 points.
