The global financial crisis that erupted in late 2007 has dragged Britain, the Eurozone, Japan
and the US into a deep recession. So amidst such a recession if any company
declares a profit, then it is a contentious issue that needs to be examined. The world
economy has been hit badly by the credit crisis, where the organizations are still coping to recover and
in this scenario, when a big bank like Citigroup is profitable to the tune of $1.6 bn in the first
quarter, everyone feels a bit better and curious too. The US banks have had nothing but bad news for
well over two years, and so it increases the suspicion all the more.
"Our results this quarter reflect the strength of Citi's franchise and we are pleased with
our performance. With revenues of nearly $25 bn and net income of $1.6 bn, we had our best
overall quarter since the second quarter of 2007," said Vikram Pandit, Chief Executive Officer of
Citigroup. Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) reported net income of $1.6 bn for the first quarter of 2009 and a loss
per share of $0.18, based on 5,385 million shares outstanding. Revenues of $24.8 bn were driven
by strong results in the Institutional Clients Group, partially offset by net write-downs.
The same goes for Bank of America, whose net income rose to $4.25 bn in the
January-March quarter, from $1.21 bn a year earlier, only to find its stock price fall by a staggering 24%. That
is because investors realized that out of the total increase, $1.9 bn came from the bank's sale of
its stake in China Construction Bank, while another $2.2 bn came from the fact that some of
the Merrill Lynch debt fell in value. |
