Well I was wrong. Instead of coming in a penny short as I had predicted, Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) beat Wall Street estimates for its first quarter earnings.
Despite a decline in earnings, as Reuters reports, Citigroup's earnings adjusted for restructuring charges came in 9 cents a share ahead of the expected $1.09. Net income fell for the third straight quarter, declining to $5.01 billion, or $1.01 per share, from $5.64 billion, or $1.12, a year earlier. And excluding an $871 million restructuring charge, profit totaled $1.18 per share.
The best news from my perspective is that revenue growth was strong while cost growth decelerated. Specifically Citigroup revenue rose 15% to $25.46 billion, while operating expenses rose 17% to $15.57 billion. Excluding the charge, however, expenses rose just 6%. This compares favorably to the 23% cost growth in the fourth quarter of 2006. The first quarter revenue growth of 15% matches that of last year's fourth quarter.
The good news? Trading and investment banking. Assets hit $2 trillion for the first time, ending the quarter at $2.02 trillion -- helped by a 40% rise in trading account assets, to $460.1 billion. Revenue was up 20% from fixed-income capital markets and 26% from equity markets which boosted corporate and investment banking profit 36% to $2.62 billion.
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