Citigroup Inc. provided more evidence that the nation’s big banks may have turned a corner. The bank reported a surprise first-quarter profit Monday as trading revenue offset losses from failed loans. loadposition in-article Citigroup said it earned $4.4 billion after payment of preferred dividends, compared with a loss of $696 million a year earlier. That was the bank’s biggest quarterly profit since the second quarter of 2007. The company cited strong trading of bonds, stocks and other securities for its big profit. Citigroup , one of the hardest hit banks during the credit crisis and recession, said loan losses fell for the third consecutive quarter. The amount of money it set aside for loan losses also fell. Citigroup earned 15 cents per share on revenue of $25.4 billion. That easily beat analysts expectations of a slight loss, according to Thomson Reuters. Citigroup ‘s strong showing follows similarly impressive results last week…

April 19th, 2010
Money maker
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