Citi's second quarter earnings beat analysts' forecasts

US banking group Citi reported second-quarter earnings ahead of analyst expectations on Monday, despite a fall in investment banking revenues.

Group revenues rose 2% to $18.8bn, which was marginally ahead of forecasts. Citi said it had made a pre-tax gain of $350m on its investment in electronic trading platform Tradeweb and had benefited from higher revenues at its Global Consumer Banking unit.

But it also said there had been declines at its Investment Banking and Equity Markets arms. Revenues in Investment Banking, which includes fees from advising on mergers and acquisitions and debt underwriting, fell 10% year-on-year, and by 9% in Equity Markets.

Diluted earnings per share came in at $1.95, compared to $1.63 a year earlier, however. Excluding the gain made from Tradeweb’s April initial public offering, EPS increased 12% to $1.83. Most analysts had been looking for EPS of around $1.80.

Earnings were boosted by a favourable tax rate and lower operating expenses, as well as a 10% reduction in the share count.

Chief executive Michael Corbat said: “We navigated an uncertain environment successfully by executing our strategy and by showing disciplined expense, credit and risk management.

“We remain committed to improve our returns on capital while continuing to provide meaningful capital returns to our shareholders.”

As at 1430 BST, shares in Citi were off 1% at $70.80.