Citigroup profit nearly halves as loan defaults loom

(Reuters) – Citigroup Inc reported a 46% plunge in quarterly profit on Wednesday as the bank set aside nearly $5 billion to prepare for an expected flood of defaults on loans due to a virtual halt in economic activity caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The lender, the most global of the U.S. banks, said net income fell to $2.52 billion, or $1.05 per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, from $4.71 billion, or $1.87 per share, a year earlier.

Earnings per share were also boosted by a 10% reduction in shares outstanding.

Analysts on average had expected Citigroup to earn $1.04 per share, according to Refinitiv. It was not immediately clear whether those estimates were comparable to the reported results.

(Reporting by Sweta Singh in Bengaluru and Imani Moise and David Henry in New York; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)