花旗海外扩张寄望中国

    花旗集团（Citigroup）的全球扩张已经开始初见成效，但它面临的挑战仍然存在。最新的一项利好消息是拜中国政府所赐。上周，中国政府批准花旗向中国快速壮大的消费者人群发放信用卡，它将使花旗成为首家能在中国境内独立发行信用卡的外资银行。

    花旗集团努力向美国以外地区寻找营收增长机会之际，此举将扩展它的国际个人和商业银行业务，进一步拉开它与竞争对手美国银行（Bank of America）之间的差异，后者正更多地专注于精简国内个人银行业务，而不是海外扩张。

    花旗集团首席执行官潘迪特上周抵达亚洲时满面笑容。继韩国后，潘迪特抵达了中国，庆贺花旗集团成立200周年。这个200岁生日，短短几年前看起来可能还可望而不可即。当时，由于美国楼市泡沫破灭，花旗集团蒙受了几百亿美元的巨大损失，正沉浮于破产边缘。

    但如今，人们都翘首期盼未来。经历2008年危机屹立不倒的美国大银行们已经恢复了几分元气，正在努力对公司业务进行调整，以适应当前的经营环境。比如，美国银行（Bank of America）正在集中精力巩固和精简国内个人银行业务，而摩根士丹利（Morgan Stanley）则在努力扩张国内个人经纪服务。

    花旗集团的答案一直是成为一家真正的全球性个人和商业银行，实现营业收入多元化，以降低美国业务的比重，因为美国市场已趋于饱和，更严格的监管也挤压了利润空间。美国以外的地区早已占到花旗集团总营收的一半以上，因此它显然知道如何在新市场中实现扩张。过去几年，它的大部分资本支出都用于在亚洲、拉美、中东和东欧建设营运网络，重点是拓展中国的个人银行市场。

    迄今为止，结果好坏不一。相比北美市场，花旗海外业务当然是在增长，至少商业银行业务是这样。过去两年，花旗海外的企业和个人贷款增长了22%，而北美市场则下降了6%。与此同时，花旗海外的存款增长了14%，而北美市场下降了2%。

    但花旗海外业务的总营收和净利润数据并没有那么亮丽。2011年第四季度，国际个人银行业务实现营收47亿美元，同比小幅增长了2%。与此同时，国际净利润却大降16%至7.88亿美元。

    不过，如果进一步分析，这些数据并没有看上去那么糟糕。净利润大幅下降，部分是由于当年新增贷款计提了7,200万美元的坏账准备金。如果剔除欧洲和中东，营收将略有增长——特别是在亚洲，亚洲营收增长了5%。2011年营运费用依然居高不下，但第三季度国际业务的净营运杠杆率一度转为正值，说明营收增长终于超过了费用的上涨。

    Citigroup's global expansion is starting to yield some choice dividends, but headwinds still exist. The latest mark in the win column comes courtesy of the Chinese government, which last week authorized Citi to offer credit cards to the nation's rapidly growing consumer class. That would make Citi the first non-Chinese bank to offer a credit card there on its own.

    The move expands the bank's international retail and commercial footprint as it seeks revenue growth from outside the United States. It also further expands the chasm between it and its big rival, Bank of America, which is focusing more on rightsizing its domestic retail operations as opposed to growing overseas.

    Citigroup's chief executive, Vikram Pandit, was all smiles as he touched down in Asia last week. After making his way through Korea, Pandit landed in China to celebrate the bank's 200th anniversary. It was a birthday that just a couple of years ago looked unattainable as the bank teetered on the edge of collapse after absorbing tens of billions in losses connected with the bursting of the housing bubble.

    But now it's all about the future. The U.S. megabanks that survived the 2008 tumult have somewhat recovered and are now trying to readjust and refocus their business for the current operating environment. For example, Bank of America (BAC) is concentrating on solidifying and rightsizing its domestic retail banking operations, while Morgan Stanley (MS) is looking to expand its domestic retail brokerage services.

    For Citigroup (C), the answer has been to become a truly global retail and commercial bank, diversifying its revenue stream in an attempt to limit its exposure to the U.S., where the market was maturing and profit margins were being squeezed from increased regulations. Citi already derives more than half of its revenues from outside the United States, so it knows how to expand in new markets. It has spent the bulk of its capital expenditures over the last few years on building out its operations in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, with a major focus on expanding its retail presence in China.

    The results so far have been mixed. There has certainly been an increase in business for Citi overseas compared to North America, at least in the commercial banking group. Citi's lending to corporations and people abroad is up 22% in the last two years, while it is down 6% in North America. Meanwhile, deposits grew 14% abroad in the last two years and fell 2% in North America.

    But overall revenue and net income from Citi's international operations has been less than stellar. International consumer banking revenue was up a slight 2% to $4.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011 versus the same period last year. Meanwhile, overall international net income fell 16% to $788 million during the same time period.

    Dig deeper into the numbers, however, and it doesn't look so bad. The steep drop in net income was due in part to a $72 million build in credit reserves needed to cover all the new loans made during the year. Revenues then perk up a bit when you strip out Europe and the Middle East -- especially in Asia, where there was a 5% increase in revenue. Operating expenses remained elevated throughout the year but the net operating leverage for the international segment turned positive for the first time in a while during the third quarter, meaning that revenues were finally outpacing expenses.