From the New York Times' Dealbook:
Three years after needing a federal bailout to survive, Citigroup reported its seventh-straight quarterly profit, with a 74 percent rise in the third quarter despite dismal results of its investment bank.
Citigroup announced a profit of $3.8 billion, or $1.23 a share, beating analyst consensus estimates of 81 cents per share. The bank had reported a $2.2 billion profit, or 72 cents a share, a year ago in the third quarter.
Citigroup benefited from a paper gain of nearly $2 billion, reflecting a sharp increase in the perceived riskiness of its debt — an adjustment that gave JPMorgan Chase a similar earnings boost last week. That contributed about one-third of its pre-tax operating profit, and helped off-set weak trading results as well as another round of heavy losses in its domestic mortgage unit.
The New York company also delivered another $1.4 billion to its bottom line from reserves set aside to cover future loan losses. Together, they accounted for more than 85 percent of its earnings....MORE
