Citibank 2010 Annual Report Download - page 4

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Dear Fellow Shareholders,
2010 was a turning point for Citigroup. We achieved our
primary goal of returning to profitability, posting positive net
income in each quarter, a full-year profit of $10.6 billion and a
$14.9 billion profit in the core businesses that will determine
our company’s future. The U.S. government sold its shares of
common stock in our company — in the process earning the
taxpayers a more than $12 billion profit on their investment.
We made more progress in reducing assets in Citi Holdings than
anyone expected and ended the year with Holdings constituting
less than 20% of our balance sheet. We attracted top talent,
including new executives to run our U.S. Consumer Bank and
Cards businesses. And, most important, we put in place a
structure and a strategy that we believe will enable us not only
to grow but to regain our company’s place as the world’s
premier international bank.
Several large trends are reshaping the financial services
industry. As America’s only truly global bank, Citigroup is the
best-positioned bank in the world to harness those trends and
deliver value to our clients and shareholders. We inherited a
great foundation. Thanks to the foresight of those who were
running this bank since before many of us were born, our
company maintains an unparalleled physical presence in more
than 100 of the world’s countries and jurisdictions, with
business operations in some 60 more. That foundation gives us
a strong head start. And we are working to build on it in ways
that aspiring competitors simply cannot — because they lack
our history, our unique assets and our global presence.
2010 Results
Before I go into more detail about our strategy and execution
priorities, let me briefly review our full-year results. One year
ago, no one would have predicted that Citi would earn a profit
in every quarter of 2010 and post double-digit net income for
the full year. But that’s exactly what we did.
Citi earned a profit of $10.6 billion in 2010, or $0.35 per share.
Both of these figures are up sharply from a net loss of $1.6
billion, or $0.80 per share, in 2009. Revenues on a comparable
basis were down slightly — to $86.6 billion in 2010 from $91.1
billion in 2009. Most of that decline is attributable to the
continued shrinking of Citi Holdings both in dollar terms and as
a share of our balance sheet.
Our core businesses in Citicorp earned profits on a comparable
basis of $14.9 billion on revenues of $65.6 billion — down
slightly, reflecting the especially strong Securities and Banking
results from the prior year. Regional Consumer Banking and
Global Transaction Services (GTS) both posted solid revenue
gains. In particular, our businesses in Asia Pacific and Latin
America continue to grow, with our international consumer
banks leading the way with revenue gains of 9% and a doubling
of net income to $4.2 billion. Overall, Citicorp generated 59%
of its revenues from its international operations — a powerful
testament to the strength of our global brand.
Our strong focus on Citicorp was matched by an equally strong
determination to continue winding down Citi Holdings in an
economically rational manner. Through a number of important
sales and other actions — including the divestiture of
Vikram S. Pandit
Chief Executive Officer