Citigroup has reported a quarterly profit that beat analysts' estimates as trading revenue held up better than the company's forecast and loans grew.
The lender said markets revenue declined about 7% in the second quarter from a year earlier.
This was smaller than the 12% drop the bank's chief financial officer John Gerspach had projected at a conference two weeks before the end of the quarter.
Client trading surged a year earlier around UK's Brexit vote.
The fourth-biggest US bank by assets said its net income fell 3.2% to $3.87 billion in the second quarter ended June 30.
Earnings per share was $1.28, topping analysts' average estimate of $1.21, according to Thomson Reuters..
JPMorgan Chase & Co, the biggest US bank by assets, also reported a better-than-expected rise in quarterly profit earlier today, helped by higher interest rates and loan growth that cushioned a decline in trading.
Citigroup said its total revenue rose 2% to $17.90 billion and beat estimates of $17.37 billion.
Fixed-income trading revenue fell 6%, while equity trading revenue dropped 11%.
Loans at the end of the quarter were up about 2% from a year earlier, as well from the end of March, indicating a new momentum for lending.
Operating expenses rose 1.3% to $10.51 billion. But the ratio of expenses to revenue remained at 59%.
The bank's shares have gained 12.8% so far this year.
The shares have climbed toward their tangible book value since mid-April largely in anticipation of the company being allowed by the Federal Reserve to use excess capital to buy back stock.
Citigroup got the go-ahead on June to repurchase up to $15.6 billion of common stock over the next year - nearly twice as much as the year before.
It was also granted permission to double its quarterly dividend to 32 cents per share, bringing total payouts to $18.9 billion for the period.
