NEW YORK: Citigroup chief financial officer (CFO) Mark Mason says that investment banking fees are expected to jump in the fourth quarter from the same time last year, as dealmaking continues to run hot.
“On the investment banking side, we’re seeing continued momentum, particularly in mergers and acquisitions.
“We’re probably looking at investment banking fees up in the mid-20s (percentage) year-over-year,” Mason said at the Goldman Sachs US Financial Services Conference.
Citi, like its competitors, has benefitted from rebounding capital markets. Mega deals have increased this year.
“The capital markets are wide open to some extent. We’re seeing a lot of investment grade activity,” Mason said. “Despite the shutdown, equity volumes and IPO volumes have held up.”
Meanwhile, markets revenue is expected to be down in the low-to-mid single digits in the fourth quarter from a year ago, Mason added.
The global economy has remained generally resilient despite continued bouts of uncertainty, and balance sheets were strong, Mason said.
“We’re likely to see that the fourth-quarter gross domestic product growth has slowed a bit. Our expectation is that 2026 probably has a continued slowing of growth at a moderate level,” Mason said.
Incoming CFO Gonzalo Luchetti said US consumers continued to show resilience, and the bank saw solid growth in consumer spending through October and November.
The bank announced last month that Citigroup CFO Mark Mason will leave his role in March and be succeeded by Luchetti, the current head of its US retail division.
The presentation was Luchetti’s first in front of analysts and investors since the announcement. When he was appointed, Wells Fargo analyst Mike Mayo said Luchetti was still “unproven” as a CFO.
Citi is also looking to bring transformation expenses down next year, Mason said, with the bank making progress on transformation goals.
“I think it’s a significant amount of progress that we’ve made,” Mason said. — Reuters
