(Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc. is set to hit the high end of its revenue guidance for 2024 and aims to lift share buybacks once there’s further clarity on the bank’s outlook for capital.
Returning more of Citigroup’s capital to investors is “high on my list,” Chief Financial Officer Mark Mason said Tuesday at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. conference. “It’s not lost on me where we trade relative to peers.”
Mason also said the bank is expecting to hit the high end of its $80 billion to $81 billion revenue guidance for the year. “So that feels very good,” he said. Mason said that expenses are also likely to be at the high end of what he’s set out. That suggests the bank will deliver on two key metrics forecast early in the year.
Citigroup rose 1.4% at 10:25 a.m. in New York. Shares of most other major US banks were down.
Under Mason and Chief Executive Officer Jane Fraser, New York-based Citigroup has pledged to increase profitability and restore investor confidence after years of lagging behind its major US banking peers. The executives have initiated an overhaul of the company that’s streamlined its operations and put heavy focus on improving data and technology.
Analysts and investors have asked why Citigroup’s buybacks have been tepid despite the fact it maintains a large capital buffer. Mason said that had nothing to do with fresh regulatory moves in July, when the bank received a fine for its failure to improve data management adequately, stressing that neither buybacks nor dividends were affected by those actions.
The bank has a target of $1 billion in buybacks this quarter, with $500 million completed already.
Mason also said Tuesday that net interest income, excluding markets, has been better than expected for the year. He said he expects positive operating leverage into 2025 and beyond.
In the fourth quarter, investment-banking fees are likely to be up 25% to 30% from a year earlier, and markets revenue is poised to increase by a percentage in the high teens, Mason said. “We continue to see good momentum in equities, particularly prime balances,” he said.
Citigroup’s cards business isn’t seeing an unexpected level of delinquencies, although net credit losses in its retail division are at the high end of guidance, he said.
(Updates with additional comments starting in third paragraph, shares in fourth, investment-banking guidance in ninth paragraph.)
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