Citi blows past 3rd-quarter earnings estimates as trading and release of loss reserve drives 48% jump in profit

• Citigroup on Thursday posted third-quarter per-share earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street's expectations.
• The bank earned $2.15 a share, higher than an estimated $1.70 a share.

Citigroup on Thursday reported a 48% climb in net income for its third quarter, with the financial services firm posting gains in capital markets revenue while it released funds reserved to cover potentially bad loans.

Here are the key numbers:

Revenue: $17.15 billion, versus the average analyst estimate of $17 billion.

Earnings per share: $2.15 per share, versus the average analyst estimate of $1.70

The company released $1.16 billion in loan loss reserves, after setting aside those funds last year as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to unfold.

"The recovery from the pandemic continues to drive corporate and consumer confidence and is creating very active client engagement," said Citi CEO Jane Fraser in the company's earnings report.

Investment banking revenue increased by 39% to $1.9 billion, and equities trading rose by 40% to $1.23 billion, ahead of the $909.4 million estimate from Bloomberg.

While overall revenue topped estimates, it declined by 1% due to the sale of its Australian consumer banking business. Citi said revenue would've been up 3% excluding the impact of that sale.