Citigroup’s third-quarter core revenue fell but the bank’s earnings on Monday were better than expected and credit losses fell sharply.
Citi followed JPMorgan Chase in announcing a sharp slide in underlying trading revenue – with falls of more than 30 per cent in fixed income and equity sales and trading – and a distorting boost from accounting rules that force companies to report a gain on the lower value of their own debt.
Vikram Pandit, chief executive, celebrated “another quarter of solid operating results” and announced he had decided to revive the group’s private-label credit cards business, which had been considered for disposal, after its earnings continued to improve.