Revenues fell by 8 per cent at the private banking arm of Citigroup in the third quarter of 2009 from the same period in 2008, falling to $520 million, while the US banking group as a whole made a profit, reversing a large loss for last year.

The private banking division’s revenues in the first nine months of 2009 stood at $1.293 billion, a 20 per cent year-on-year decline, the bank said in a statement today.

The bank said its Tier 1 capital ratio – a key measure of a bank’s financial strength – stood at 12.7 per cent.

Vikram Pandit, Citi's chief executive said the firm continued to perform strongly on its plans to restore its financial health and repay bailout money to the US government under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.