Citi's investment-banking revenue tracking 50% above year-ago level

By Steve Gelsi

CFO Mark Mason projects strong second-quarter growth as deal-making rises, while touting long-term growth of its services unit

Citigroup Inc. financial chief Mark Mason said Tuesday the bank is seeing a healthy pickup in investment-banking activity compared to year-ago levels.

Citigroup's (C) investment banking unit is being driven by better mergers-and-acquisitions activity, as well as capital-raising.

He's projecting a roughly 50% rise in investment-banking revenue over the year-ago quarter.

Markets revenue is expected to be flat to slightly down, year over year.

Citigroup reports its second-quarter results on July 12.

Mason's projections came during Citigroup's investor day, which emphasized its lessor-known but sizeable Citi Services unit, which handles global money moves for clients and acts as a custodian for large assets.

Citi Services grew revenue at a compounded annual rate of 20% to $18.1 billion in 2023 from $12.6 billion in 2021, according to Mason's presentation slides.

Citigroup plans to drive revenue growth at Citi Services by working more closely with core clients and grow its customer base.

Citigroup stock was up 1.4% on Tuesday. The stock has risen 18.2% in 2024, ahead of the 15% rise by the S&P 500 SPX.

Also read: Citi to get lower grade for its living will from the FDIC: WSJ

-Steve Gelsi

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-18-24 1554ET

Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.