Como se combate o populismo? "Com eleições", responde Fukuyama

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Citigroup 1st-Qtr Net Rises to Record on Retail Bank (Update1)
April 15 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc., the world's biggest financial-services company, said first-quarter earnings rose 3.2 percent to a record $5.44 billion on gains in consumer banking and private-equity investments. The bank said it may buy back as much as $15 billion more in stock.

Net income climbed to $1.04 a share, Citigroup said in a statement distributed by Business Wire. The New York-based company was expected to report a profit of $5.38 billion, or $1.02 a share, the average estimate of 18 analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. Revenue was $21.5 billion, short of analyst estimates.

Citigroup's Global Consumer Group, the unit that caters mainly to individuals, had a first-quarter profit of $2.82 billion, up 9 percent. The business earned $11.8 billion last year, more than Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's biggest retailer, and Procter & Gamble Co., the largest U.S. maker of household goods, as demand swelled for loans, credit cards and branch-banking services.

``The consumer businesses are going to have another outstanding year,'' said William Rubin, a money manager at Dreyfus Corp., which oversees $160 billion and holds more than 12 million Citigroup shares. Rubin spoke before the earnings were released.

Citigroup shares fell 28 cents to 35.20 euros in German trading at 6:09 a.m. New York time.

A year earlier, Citigroup earned $5.27 billion, or $1.01 a share. First-quarter earnings from continuing operations, which exclude results from Citigroup's Travelers Life & Annuity unit and an Argentine pension business, were $5.17 billion, or 99 cents a share.

First-quarter profit from alternative investments rose to $362 million from $26 million, as the bank increased the reported value of some private-equity holdings.

Citigroup's corporate and investment bank had a profit of $1.68 billion, down 2 percent from the first quarter of 2004. Global Wealth Management, which includes the Smith Barney brokerage and Citigroup's private bank, earned $317 million, a drop of 23 percent.

Shares of Citigroup have slipped 5.8 percent this year on concern rising interest rates and a March 16 Federal Reserve order discouraging big acquisitions would stifle Citigroup's earnings growth.

Chief Executive Charles Prince, 55, plans to lift earnings instead by investing in existing businesses. He also has said he will focus on raising the bank's ethical standards, a project the Fed said Citigroup should regard as more important than making further purchases.

Citigroup set aside $4.95 billion last year to pay legal claims that it helped companies such as WorldCom Inc. defraud investors. The bank's bond-trading unit came under scrutiny in August after a flurry of trades roiled European debt markets, sparking investigations.

A month later, Citigroup was forced to shut its private bank in Japan after the company was accused by regulators of failing to block money laundering and trying to hide lapses from officials.