Citigroup profit jumps 51 percent as costs fall

[October 15, 2015] (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc, the third biggest U.S. bank by assets, reported a 51 percent rise in quarterly profit as a fall in operating, legal and repositioning costs more than made up for lower revenue.

Net income rose to $4.29 billion, or $1.35 per share, in the third quarter from $2.84 billion, or 88 cents per share, a year earlier, when the bank had taken a near $2 billion charge for litigation and restructuring costs.

Adjusting for certain accounting items, Citigroup's net profit rose 35.7 percent to $4.16 billion, or $1.31 per share.

Revenue fell about 5 percent to $18.69 billion.

Analysts on average had estimated earnings of $1.28 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It was not immediately clear if the numbers were comparable.

(Reporting by Sweta Singh in Bengaluru and David Henry in New York; Editing by Kirti Pandey)

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