Citi Earnings Top $5 Billion

Citigroup, the world’s largest financial services firm, on Thursday reported a 12% rise in fourth quarter profits and also boosted its dividend by 10%.

In the quarter, Citi earned $5.32 billion, or $1.02 a share, compared with $4.76 billion, or 91 cents a share, compared to a year ago. Net revenue at the bank were $21.87 billion, up 9% from a year ago.

Citi beat by a penny the Thomson Financial consensus estimate of $1.01 a share. Revenue came in slightly ahead of the consensus estimate of $21.6 billion. Up until a few weeks ago, analysts had been expecting Citi to earn $1.02 a share.

The earnings come in a mixed week for bank investors. On Wednesday, No. 2 bank J.P. Morgan Chase said quarterly earnings fell 11% from a year ago and missed Wall Street estimates, while on Tuesday, No. 3 bank Bank of America reported a 41% increase in profits. Wednesday night, mortgage giant Washington Mutual said profit fell to $668 million from $842 million, but still beat estimates.

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