Citibank 2013 Annual Report Download - page 3

Dear Fellow Shareholders,
When I wrote to you one year ago, just
after assuming the role of CEO, I laid
out three broad goals for our company.
First, I want Citi to generate consistent,
quality earnings. Second, I want Citi to
be known for making smart decisions
in every aspect of our work. Third,
I concluded that I won’t be satisfied
until Citi has completely rebuilt our
credibility with all our stakeholders.
Let me recap our progress in 2013 toward achieving those
goals and lay out the agenda I’ve set for our firm for 2014
and beyond.
2013 was a busy year for the firm and for me personally.
I traveled some 200,000 miles visiting 53 cities, met with
two clients each day on average, spoke with regulators in
nearly every country I visited, had dozens of interactions
with investors and spoke with our employees at internal
gatherings at least once a week.
The consistent theme from all these conversations is that
our stakeholders agree that our strategy — focused on the
dominant secular trends of globalization, urbanization and
digitization — is right, both for our firm and for the times.
All three trends reinforce each other. And with our industry-
leading global network, presence in the world’s top cities, and
ambitious digital agenda for our consumer and institutional
businesses, Citi is uniquely positioned to harness each for the
benefit of our clients.
But many also raised questions about our ability to
successfully execute that strategy and operate our businesses
up to their considerable potential. I know we can, and I believe
that our 2013 performance provides some strong evidence.
First, and fundamentally, we earned $13.7 billion — our largest
profit since the financial crisis. With most developed markets
growing well below the levels that used to be taken for
granted, and many emerging markets slowing considerably
from their recent peaks, this result demonstrates the
resiliency of our franchise and the talent of our people to
perform even in a persistently challenging environment.
Letter to Shareholders
We were able to grow our revenues in the face of regulatory,
legal and other headwinds. We managed our risk carefully
throughout a volatile year, with markets on edge owing to the
Federal Reserve’s announcement that it soon would begin to
wind down its Quantitative Easing program.
Particularly in a tough revenue environment, expenses —
which are largely under our control — are viewed as a proxy
for management effectiveness. And I’m pleased that we hit
our commitment in 2013 and realized $900 million in savings
from our repositioning actions, which helped further curb
our expenses.
Michael L. Corbat
Chief Executive Officer
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