Lock the editor’s digest lock for free
Roula Khalaf, the editor of FT, selects his favorite story in this week’s newsletter.
Citigroup has undergone a restructuring that promoted more than 8,000 employees at the end of 2024 and was wiped out by one of Wall Street’s largest banks.
The New York-based lender promoted 8,500 employees as part of the year-end process, retaining high-performance staff, bringing the total to more than 31,000 in 2024, City said on its website. As part of that tally, 344 have appointed coveted roles of managing directors.
City’s latest promotional drive, which was comparable to the previous round, has significantly reduced the bank’s positions of around 11,000 since fall 2023, bringing the five key divisions Jane Fraser is looking to reach its highest profitability. It came after a wide restructuring that rocked. target.
Managers have recently signalled bankers as they plan to award far fewer promotions in November. The group has 229,000 employees.
Revenues for all five of Citi’s major businesses rose last year. This includes a 32% jump in the corporate and investment banking sectors. Citi’s overall revenue rose 3% to just over $81 billion, while profits rose by more than a third to $12.7 billion.
Its stock has grown 50% over the past year, slightly surpassing the KBW index of major US banks, and has recently risen in hopes of the Donald Trump government cutting regulations.
Citi has made some progress in 2024 by cutting costs, with operating expenses down 4% compared to the previous year.
Banks’ tangible ordinary stocks (heavy-monitored profitability metrics) were 7% in 2024, up from 4.9% in 2023, but lower than their major peers. City had targeted 11-12% by the end of 2026, but reduced that range to 10-11% in January.
Described as a “significant year” in January 2024, Fraser said that Citi’s low profitable targets chose to invest heavily in promoting future growth.
“We don’t sacrifice proper long-term investments in growth for short-term convenience and competitiveness. This is a waypoint. It’s not a destination,” Fraser told analysts in January.