Citigroup profit falls 3 percent as expenses rise, trading dips

REUTERS - Citigroup Inc reported a 3.2 percent decline in quarterly profit as expenses rose and trading revenue fell from Brexit vote-boosted levels a year earlier.

The fourth-biggest U.S. bank by assets said on Friday net income fell to $3.87 billion in the second quarter ended June 30, from $4.00 billion a year earlier.

Earnings per share, however, rose to $1.28 from $1.24 as the number of shares outstanding declined due to buybacks.

Analysts on average had expected earnings of $1.21 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It was not immediately clear if the results were comparable.

JPMorgan Chase & Co, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, reported a better-than-expected rise in quarterly profit earlier on Friday, helped by higher interest rates and loan growth that cushioned a decline in trading.

 

Wells Fargo & Co, the third-biggest U.S. bank by assets, was scheduled to report on Friday.

(Reporting by Sweta Singh in Bengaluru and David Henry in New York; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)