Citigroup (C) Mulls Divesture of Consumer Business in Asia

C WAL APO

Citigroup (C - Free Report) is planning to offload certain units of its retail banking business in the Asia Pacific, per a Bloomberg article. Citing people familiar with the matter, the article reported that the sale is likely to be executed over time.

The Wall Street biggie’s consumer business in Asia is spread over 17 markets, with 12 in the Asia Pacific area and the rest in Europe, the Middle East and Africa regions. It currently operates 16 million credit-card accounts and more than 400,000 wealth-management customers.

The move comes as part of incoming CEO Jane Fraser’s strategy to simplify the bank’s operations. Last month, the bank announced plans to unite its Global Consumer Banking and the Institutional Clients Group units into a single wealth management organization, Citi Global Wealth.

“As our incoming CEO Jane Fraser said in January, we are undertaking a dispassionate and thorough review of our strategy, including our mix of businesses and how they fit together,” article quoted Jennifer Lowney, a spokeswoman for the bank. “As you would expect, many different options are being considered and we will take the right amount of time before making any decisions,” he added.

The article also reported that Citigroup is mulling to divest consumer operations in Mexico, where it operates as Citibanamex. On a combined basis, both units had average assets of $161 billion as of Dec 31, 2020.

Our Take

Citigroup’s streamlining efforts along with strategic investments in core business bode well. Also, prudent cost management from the wind-down of legacy assets aids bottom-line expansion. However, pending litigations and subdued consumer banking business remain concerning.

Over the past six months, shares of Citigroup have gained 28.9% compared with 41.3% rally of the industry.

 

 

Currently, the stock carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Notably, many regional banks in the United States are undertaking restructuring initiatives, including acquisitions and divestures, as part of their plan to expand amid the low interest rate environment. Recently, Apollo Global Management (APO - Free Report) and Athene Holding decided to sell Aris Mortgage Holding Company, LLC — the parent company of AmeriHome Mortgage Company — to a subsidiary of Western Alliance Bancorporation (WAL - Free Report) .

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