The group's private banking group logged a rise in year-on-year revenues while the overall Citigroup empire ended last year on a high note, driven by stronger revenues.

US-listed Citigroup yesterday reported a rise in fourth quarter net income for 2019, coming in at $5.0 billion, against $4.3 billion a year ago, on the back of a 7 per cent rise in revenues over the same period. 

The banking group said there were “strong results” across the institutional clients group and global consumer banking. It reported on the same day that fellow banking titan JP Morgan kicked off the fourth-quarter results season.

Private banking sits within the institutional clients group. Citi said its private bank Q4 revenues were $847 million, a 6 per cent year-on-year rise. The gain was driven by higher lending and investment activity, with both new and existing clients, partially offset by spread compression.

For the full year, Citigroup reported net income of $19.4 billion on revenues of $74.3 billion, compared with net income of $18.0 billion on revenues of $72.9 billion for the full year 2018, it said in a statement. 

At the end of December last year the bank had a Common Equity Tier 1 ratio – a standard international way in which large banks report their capital buffers – of 11.7 per cent. Return on equity last year was 10.3 per cent.

“We enter 2020 in a strong competitive position, from capital and liquidity to talent and technology. We continue to invest in areas where we see opportunities for client-led growth and in our infrastructure, in light of the enduring need to be an indisputably strong and stable institution,” Citi chief executive Michael Corbat said.