Citigroup Inc. it reported strongly higher first-quarter earnings on Thursday and said it would close most of its consumer banking operations in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
The bank made a profit of $ 7.9 billion, or $ 3.62 per share, well above the $ 2.60 per share projected by analysts surveyed by FactSet. A year earlier, Citigroup had reported a quarterly profit of about $ 2.5 billion, or $ 1.05 per share.
Citigroup also said it would exit its consumer operations in 13 countries, mostly in Asia, to focus on wealth management and other businesses.
Jane Fraser, who took over as CEO last month, said in a statement that those consumer banks were excellent companies, but “we don’t have the scale we need to compete.” He said Citigroup would continue to invest in wealth management and in companies working with corporate clients in Asia.
Citigroup is a giant on Wall Street, but is relatively small in U.S. consumer banking, a combination some analysts and investors have criticized. Ms Fraser said in January that the bank would restructure companies that manage money for wealthy customers, with the aim of reaching customers sooner and keeping them as they grow richer. The bank said on Thursday it will operate consumer banking in four “wealth centers”, where it expects strong growth for the wealth management business: Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and London.