Citigroup says 2nd-quarter profit falls 10 percent even as loan losses drop

Stephen Bernard, AP Business Writer, On Friday July 16, 2010, 8:17 am

NEW YORK (AP) — Citigroup says its second-quarter net income dropped 10 percent to $2.7 billion even as its loan losses fell. The drop in income reflects the bank’s sale a year ago of the Smith Barney brokerage, a transaction that inflated its earnings at the time.

 

Citigroup Inc. joins JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. in reporting earnings that got a lift in the second quarter as losses from failed loans fell. That’s a sign that consumers are having an easier time paying their debts. But Citi, like the other banks, also had a decline in trading revenue because of the stock market’s plunge this spring.

 

Citigroup says it earned $2.7 billion, or 9 cents per share, during the April-June period. That compares with $3 billion, or 49 cents per share, during the same quarter last year.

 

Analysts forecast the bank would earn 5 cents per share.