Citi CFOs are leaning towards AI as Q2 revenues have skyrocketed in the past
good morning. Citi won the second quarter as C-Suite leaders and consumers continued to adapt to sustained tariffs and economic uncertainty.
In a media call Tuesday morning ahead of City’s revenue call, CFO Mark Mason shared insights into the company’s performance. NET revenue for the second quarter was $4 billion, up 25% year-on-year.
“Generally speaking, CEOs learn how to navigate market uncertainty and volatility,” Mason said. Whether some executives are eagerly hoping for the economy or wanting it, he hopes business activities will continue to pick up. He added that emotions have improved and the risk of a recession has been significantly reduced since the start of the second quarter.
Mason also said that consumer financial health is “mainly maintained despite some of the uncertainties still remaining in the market.” He described today’s consumers as more discernible, but observed that wealthy customers continue to spend. Citi’s brand card spending increased by around 4% year-on-year, but travel-related spending has softened slightly.
Mason has granted new tariffs on imported goods to be charged. Effects August 1st In some countries, it still affects inflation and can lead to unintended economic outcomes. Duties are taxes on imports, and their most direct and typical effect is to raise producer costs and consumer prices.
“It’s still unclear how it will manifest in inflation and some of the other unintended consequences,” he said. Citi continues to monitor developments regarding tariffs, inflation and labour market trends.
City exceeds expectations
City (No.21 (Fortune 500) exceeded analyst expectations this quarter. bank It has been reported:
– Earnings per share (EPS): $1.96 (expected $1.61).
-Revise: $21.7 billion, an 8% increase from the previous year (expected $21 billion).
– Revenue has increased across all business lines. Banking is outstanding, and despite losses in loan hedges, revenues rose 18% from the second quarter of 2024.
– Record Q2 revenue for the Services, Wealth and US Personal Bank segment.
Citi also increased its full-year revenue guidance to around $84 billion. The bank also raised its forecast for net interest increase from the previous 2% to about 4%.
Leaning on AI to improve performance
Citi’s expenses rose 2% year-on-year to $13.6 billion, primarily due to retirements and increased technology investments. Mason highlighted that City’s strategic focus on AI and digital innovation has already contributed to improving performance.
“As many companies, including Citi, are trying to increase productivity and efficiency, this should not be retreated to how AI is used from allocating resources. It’s time to tilt towards that instead. Generated AI tools such as Citi Assist and Citi Stylus are deployed at large scale across the organization to increase employee productivity and streamline operations.
The use cases he mentioned include helping developers generate code and speed up technology development. Improved data quality and regulatory reporting. Supports data lineage and tracing compliance tasks.
During the revenue call, CEO Jane Fraser added that ongoing efforts to modernize and improve banking infrastructure will support future advancements in stubcoin and digital assets. The offerings will be delivered in a “safe and healthy way,” she emphasized.
Amidst global uncertainty and looming tariff changes, City is working on long-term innovation, Mason said.
Cheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
Leaderboard
Karyn OvelmenNewmont (NEM), one of the world’s largest gold miners, resigned on July 11th. She will be provisionally replaced by Chief Justice Peter Wexler while searching for a permanent replacement.
Corleen Roche He was appointed CFO of Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: IOVA), Commercial Biotechnology Company, August 6th. Roche brings 30 years of experience in the biotechnology and life sciences industry. Most recently she was CFO in CG Oncology. Her previous roles included the roles of CFOs of Immunome, US CFOs of Biogen, North American CFOs of CSL Behring, Sandoz, Wyeth, and various CFOs within Pfizer.
A big deal
“How Financial Data Strategies Can Change the Role of Insurance CFOs” is a report by EY that provides insight into the challenges many insurance companies are currently working on.
As insurers strengthen their investments in front and middle office data architectures, the financial sector often struggles to clearly communicate data capture and service requirements, research finds. As a result, finance teams often spend time on data quality checks, reclassifying entries, and linking affiliate data to support profitability analysis. This underscores the importance of a cohesive, well-built finance data strategy. “A robust financial data strategy and close partnership between the CFO and the Chief Data Officer is essential to navigate these challenges.” According to the report.
Go deep
Core inflation, which often excludes the volatile food and energy sector, rose 2.9% year-on-year, and is considered a more stable measure of underlying price trends. In June, food prices rose 0.3% and energy prices rose 0.9%.
I’ve heard it
“As CEO of a technology company that helps customers deploy AI, I think this revolution can guide an era of unprecedented growth and impact. At the same time, I believe that humans must remain at the heart of the story.”
– Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, wrote on July 10th Financial Times Oned.