花旗继续反弹

    美国银行业资产规模第四大的花旗集团（Citigroup）周一公布，二季度实现利润42亿美元。这样的利润数据确实不错：增长44%，每股收益1.34美元，超出预期14%。

    当季实现近9亿美元的利润增长，其中相当一部分来自于不良贷款损失减少。据花旗称，当季核心业务——消费者银行的逾期贷款总额下降了31%。

    此外，市场回暖也给花旗带来了好消息，也为它华尔街的银行家们带来了很多机会。在股票交易的推动下，这家银行的投资银行业务收入增长了21%。另一项推动力是花旗亚洲和拉美业务的增长，尽管中国和其他新兴市场呈现放缓趋势。花旗银行是美国大银行中最注重国际化的银行，海外扩张是它一贯的目标。整体而言，花旗二季度收入增长了12%，达到205亿美元。

    出现改观的另一个迹象是，花旗表示，手头用于覆盖不良贷款或投资的资本额增加了近60亿美元。自金融危机以来，监管机构和投资者都非常关注这些资本的水平。而且，按监管机构定义的风险资产额也在下降。由此，花旗的资本与风险资产比率达到了10%, 在美国大型银行中居于前列。

    不过，贷款业务依然疲弱。二季度，花旗持有的未偿贷款余额减少了近30亿美元，下降到了6,430亿美元。

    尽管如此，这些业绩数据依然表明自去年秋季起执掌花旗的CEO迈克尔•考伯特已经成功扭转了局面：花旗身为金融危机中状况最艰难的美国大银行已经走出了困境。凭借率直坦诚的个性和削减成本的承诺，考伯特已在投资者中赢得了一些拥趸。去年底，考伯特表示，花旗将裁员11,000人。二季度，花旗售出了180亿美元的问题贷款，并将所持美邦（Smith Barney）证券经纪子公司的剩余股份卖给了摩根士丹利（Morgan Stanley）。公司运营支出也已小幅下降。

    今年迄今已跃升30%的花旗股票在周一业绩报告发布后小幅上涨，已经接近52美元。

    考伯特在一份声明中表示：“我们本季度的业务表现良好，各个产品线和各地区的业务数据较为均衡，特别是最近增长面临挑战的新兴市场。”

    就在很多人担心利率上涨将侵蚀金融业利润时，花旗等美国大银行近日接连发布出色的业绩报告。上周五，摩根大通（JPMorgan Chase）和富国银行（Wells Fargo）也都发布了好于分析师预期的业绩。（财富中文网）

    Citigroup, the No. 4 U.S. bank by assets, said it earned $4.2 billion in the second quarter. That's a good bottom line: growth of 44%, and, at $1.34 per share, 14% ahead of estimates.

    Much of the gain, nearly $900 million, came from lower losses from bad loans. The bank said the volume of delinquent loans in its core consumer banking unit fell 31%.

    But the bank also benefited from a better market, which created work for its Wall Street bankers. Investment banking revenue, driven by stock deals, rose 21%. Another boost came from Asia and Latin America, where Citi's business was up, despite a slowdown in China and other emerging markets. Expanding overseas has been a goal for Citi, the most internationally focused of the U.S.'s large banks. Overall, Citi's revenue rose 12% to $20.5 billion.

    In another sign of improvement, Citi (C) said the amount of capital it had on hand to cover soured loans or investments rose by nearly $6 billion. Regulators and investors have been watching those capital levels closely since the financial crisis. What's more, its risky assets as measured by regulators also dropped. Combined, that gives Citi a ratio of capital to risky assets of 10%, one of the highest among the big banks.

    Still, lending remained weak. The volume of loans Citi had outstanding fell nearly $3 billion to $643 billion in the second quarter.

    Nonetheless, the results are the latest sign that CEO Michael Corbat, in charge since last fall, has been pulling off a turnaround -- Citi emerged from the financial crisis as the most troubled of the big banks. Corbat has won fans among investors with his what-you-see-is-what-you-get personality and promise to cut costs. Late last year, Corbat said the bank would eliminate 11,000 employees. In the quarter, Citi sold off $18 billion in troubled loans and its remaining stake in its former Smith Barney brokerage unit, which was bought by Morgan Stanley (MS). Operating expenses fell slightly.

    Shares of the bank, which have jumped 30% this year, were up slightly on Monday after the earnings announcement to nearly $52.

    "Our businesses performed well during the quarter, and these results are well-balanced through our products and geographies, especially in the emerging markets, where growth is being challenged," said Corbat in a statement.

    The report also continued a string of good reports from big banks at a time when many people are worried that rising interest rates would derail profits in the financial sector. JPMorgan Chase(JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC) both reported earnings on Friday that were better than analysts had expected.