Citigroup achieved profit of $2.9 billion during the opening quarter, new figures published by the US banking organisation have revealed.
Data released by the financier - which handles 200 million customer accounts in 160 countries globally - yesterday showed that it received strong levels of revenue during this three-month timeframe.
This trend was primarily down to a combination of a greater number of customers paying back their loans on time and the fact the company processed more transactions for its international clients.
However, the bank's total revenue of $19.4 billion still represented a fall of two per cent on the figure recorded in the corresponding timeframe last year, but the $2.7 billion profit was boosted by $1.2 billion coming from loan reserves.
During the quarter, Citigroup earned around 95 cents per share - a figure that was slightly below the $1.02 forecast by financial analysts questioned by data provider FactSet.
By Gary Cooper