(MENAFN - The Peninsula) US banking giant Citigroup yesterday posted a strong rise in second-quarter profit, as falling credit losses offset a drop in revenues.
Net income increased to 3.3bn in the April-June period, marking a 24 percent jump from 2.7bn in the same period last year, and an 11 percent increase from the first quarter of 2011, the bank said.
Earnings per share were 1.09, the New York-based bank said in a statement, beating analysts' consensus estimate of 97 cents.
Revenues came in at 20.6bn, topping analysts' forecasts of 19.9bn. Net revenues were 7 percent lower than in the first quarter of 2010 but 5 percent higher than in the first quarter of this year.
"We produced growth in both loans and deposits in Citicorp, reduced assets in Citi Holdings, continued to invest in our core businesses, and improved our financial strength," chief executive Vikram Pandit said in the statement.
SKF reports profit jump as sales rise
STOCKHOLM: Sweden's SKF, the world's biggest maker of industrial bearings, said yesterday its second-quarter net profit rose from the figure for the same period in 2010, largely helped by an improving automobile market.
The company posted a profit of 1.71bn Swedish kroner (262m) for the April-June quarter.
For the same period in 2010, it made a net profit of 1.41bn kroner.
The results were slightly below analyst expectations, which SKF blamed on unfavourable foreign exchange and rising costs.
"We will continue to invest in our business and take the necessary steps to offset the high raw material costs and currency headwinds," chief executive Tom Johnstone said.
Sony Ericsson falls into red in Q2
STOCKHOLM: Mobile phone manufacturer Sony Ericsson posted yesterday a net loss of ‚50m (70m) for the second quarter and said its supply chain had been hit by the disasters in Japan.
In the second quarter last year, the Japanese-Swedish group had made net profit of ‚12m.
The company sold 7.6 million mobile phones in the quarter, a 31-percent drop from the April-June period in 2010, attributed to an expected fall in the number of non-smartphones it sold and to the earthquake in Japan.
"We estimate that the impact of earthquake-related supply chain constraints on our portfolio was close to 1.5 million units, with most of the effect in the early part of the quarter," chief executive Bert Nordberg said in a statement, noting the quake had affected the company's profitability.
In an interview with Dow Jones Newswires, he said the quarter "was lost" and that April had been "a formidable catastrophe."
