By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Citigroup (NYSE:C) shares rose 2% on Thursday after the bank said it would sell its consumer banking operations in 13 countries to focus on its higher-margin wealth management business.
“As a result of the ongoing refresh of our strategy, we have decided that we are going to double down on wealth,” CEO Jane Fraser said.
“While the other 13 markets have excellent businesses, we don’t have the scale we need to compete.”
Citigroup will exit consumer businesses in Australia, Bahrain, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. The bank’s institutional client business in those countries will not be affected.
The remaining consumer and wealth management businesses will be run out of centers in Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and London.
Citigroup reported net income of $7.9 billion for the first quarter of 2021, more than tripling from $2.5 billion in the same period a year ago. Revenue slipped 7%, to $20.7 billion.