Citigroup (C) is slated to report Q4 results on Tuesday, January 17 before the market open, with a conference call scheduled for 10:30 am ET.
Guidance
Analysts are looking for EPS of 48c on revenue of $18.54B. The consensus range is 30c-64c for EPS, and $17.48B-$19.84B for revenue, according to First Call. Citigroup investors are likely less optimistic about the outlook for the company's results, after JP Morgan reported lower than expected Q4 revenue. The bank's headline Q4 EPS was in-line with expectations, but the bottom line was boosted by a $1.6B year-over-year reduction in the provision for credit losses for the bank's retail financial services unit. Furthermore, JP Morgan's Q4 investment banking fees tumbled 39% year-over-year, its Q4 equity markets revenue sank 23% sequentially, and its mortgage unit generated a loss of $258M.
Analyst Views
Meanwhile, on January 6 Wells Fargo predicted that Citigroup's Q4 results would be hurt by several one-time charges. The firm predicted that Citigroup would announce $1.2B in non-core charges, including $400M in severance charges. Largely as a result of this forecast, Wells lowered its Q4 EPS estimate for the bank to 41c from 78c. Wells predicted that large U.S. banks would be hurt by deteriorating global capital market trends. Meanwhile, there has been a great deal of speculation among Wall Street analysts about the amount of money that the Fed will allow large banks, including Citigroup, to return to shareholders this year. Last August, Citigroup declared a 1c per share dividend. Citigroup investors will be listening for indications the bank will be able to return more cash to shareholders this year.
