Citigroup Inc. will be looking to exit its consumer franchises in thirteen markets across two regions. The markets will include Australia, Bahrain, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
The Group will continue to operate its consumer banking franchise in Asia and EMEA solely from four wealth centers, Singapore, Hong Kong, UAE and London.
“While the other 13 markets have excellent businesses, we don’t have the scale we need to compete. We believe our capital, investment dollars and other resources are better deployed against higher returning opportunities in wealth management and our institutional businesses in Asia. We will continue to update you on strategic decisions as we make them while we work to increase the returns we deliver to our shareholders,” Citi Chief Executive Officer, Jane Fraser said.
The Group reported net income for the first quarter 2021 of US$7.9 billion, or US$3.62 per diluted share, on revenues of US$19.3 billion. This compared to net income of US$2.5 billion, or US$1.06 per diluted share, on revenues of US$20.7 billion for the first quarter 2020.
Revenues decreased 7 percent from the prior-year period, as higher revenues in Investment Banking and Equity Markets were more than offset by lower rates, the absence of prior year mark-to-market gains on loan hedges within the Institutional Clients Group (ICG), and lower card volumes in Global Consumer Banking (GCB).
According to theedgemarkets.com, Citi has more than six decades of presence and with 10 branches in Malaysia. The Group also has a workforce of over 5,000 employees and banks 85 percent of the top 20 largest market cap companies here.
CEO of Citi Malaysia, Usman Ahmed said with the repositioning, the Group will be able to further invest their resources in growing their institutional business in Malaysia which includes corporate and investment banking, commercial banking, markets (including equity brokerage) and treasury and trade solutions.
There will be no immediate change to operations and no immediate impact to the Malaysian team following the announcement.
