April 19 (Bloomberg) -- Sesa Goa Ltd., India’s biggest iron-ore exporter, said fourth-quarter profit more than doubled on higher demand for the steelmaking raw material from China.
Group net income climbed to 12.2 billion rupees ($273 million) in the three months ended March 31 from 5.5 billion rupees a year earlier, the Panaji, Goa-based company said today in an e-mailed statement. Net sales rose to 28.1 billion rupees from 15.8 billion rupees.
Sesa Goa, a unit of Vedanta Resources Plc, exports most of its production to steelmakers in China and Japan. China is the world’s largest buyer of iron ore and last year increased imports by 42 percent to a record 628 million metric tons. Chinese imports of the iron ore by sea could rise 47 percent this year from 2008 levels, Johannesburg-based Kumba Iron Ore Ltd. said on April 15.
Average cash prices of 62 percent iron-content ore delivered to Tianjin port in China jumped 87.5 percent to $131.6 a metric ton in the three months ended March 31, compared with $70.2 a ton a year ago, according to the Steel Index.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Citigroup Net More Than Doubles as Loan Costs Decline
April 19 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc. said profit more than doubled as the global economic rebound trimmed costs for bad loans, trading revenue surpassed analysts’ estimates and the value of subprime mortgage bonds increased.
First-quarter net income of $4.43 billion followed a loss of $7.58 billion in the fourth quarter and a profit of $1.59 billion in the first three months of 2009, New York-based Citigroup said today in a statement. Adjusted per-share earnings were 14 cents. Analysts in a Bloomberg survey estimated the company would break even.
Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit, who is taking a $1 annual salary until the company turns consistently profitable, said in February that 2010 may show the “earnings potential of the new Citi” after two straight annual losses totaling $29 billion. Profit was the highest since the second quarter of 2007 as bad-loan costs fell 16 percent to $8.37 billion.
“They are now feeling themselves to be sufficiently reserved and they’re beginning to reduce credit expenses,” said Gary Townsend, president of Hill-Townsend Capital LLC, a Chevy Chase, Maryland-based investment firm, in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “That falls directly to the bottom line.”
Citigroup, which climbed 38 percent on the New York Stock Exchange this year before today, advanced 19 cents, or 4.2 percent, to $4.75 in composite trading at 9:46 a.m.
Assets Increase
The bank’s assets increased 8 percent to $2 trillion, after accounting rule makers closed a loophole that had allowed banks to keep credit-card loans and other debt instruments off their balance sheets.
Revenue from continuing operations shrank 5.8 percent to $25.4 billion, while consumer-banking revenue rose 3.1 percent to $8.08 billion, Citigroup said.
Chief Financial Officer John Gerspach said on a conference call with reporters that the company took $800 million of write- ups on subprime mortgage bonds. Writedowns on subprime bonds were among the biggest causes of Citigroup’s losses over the past two years.
“Our performance was aided by stability in the capital markets and improvement in the global business climate,” Pandit said in the statement.
Under bank accounting rules, bad-loan costs include charge- offs during the quarter as well as any increases or decreases of loss reserves for future defaults.
Charge-Offs
Charge-offs in the first quarter climbed to $8.38 billion from $7.28 billion. Overall, the bad-loan costs fell because the bank released $18 million from its reserves, compared with an increase a year earlier of $2.63 billion.
Revenue from trading and investment banking fell 34 percent to $8 billion. Citigroup had $6.59 billion of trading revenue, exceeding Credit Suisse Group AG analyst Moshe Orenbuch’s estimate of $5 billion.
The bank had $1.06 billion of mergers-advisory and underwriting revenue. Orenbuch forecast $1.1 billion.
Citigroup Vice Chairman Edward “Ned” Kelly will become chairman of the investment-banking division, according to an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg News and confirmed by spokeswoman Danielle Romero-Apsilos.
Revenue in Citigroup’s global transaction services division, which manages bank accounts for corporations and acts as securities custodian for fund managers, was $2.44 billion, up from $2.37 billion.
The Citi Holdings division, which includes businesses that Pandit has said he wants to exit, had revenue of $6.55 billion, compared with $4.06 billion a year earlier.
Government’s Stake
Citigroup, which had to get a $45 billion bailout in 2008, repaid $20 billion of the funds in December. The remaining $25 billion was converted by the Treasury Department into 7.7 billion Citigroup shares, which have a market value of about $35 billion.
“All of us at Citi recognize that we would not be where we are without the assistance of American taxpayers,” Pandit said in the statement. He said the company was “gratified” to be able to repay the government “with a substantial return, as well as create a significant increase in the value of their equity in Citi.”
JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s first-quarter profit climbed 55 percent from a year earlier, and Bank of America Corp.’s fell 25 percent. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reports earnings tomorrow and Morgan Stanley is scheduled for April 21.
First-quarter net income of $4.43 billion followed a loss of $7.58 billion in the fourth quarter and a profit of $1.59 billion in the first three months of 2009, New York-based Citigroup said today in a statement. Adjusted per-share earnings were 14 cents. Analysts in a Bloomberg survey estimated the company would break even.
Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit, who is taking a $1 annual salary until the company turns consistently profitable, said in February that 2010 may show the “earnings potential of the new Citi” after two straight annual losses totaling $29 billion. Profit was the highest since the second quarter of 2007 as bad-loan costs fell 16 percent to $8.37 billion.
“They are now feeling themselves to be sufficiently reserved and they’re beginning to reduce credit expenses,” said Gary Townsend, president of Hill-Townsend Capital LLC, a Chevy Chase, Maryland-based investment firm, in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “That falls directly to the bottom line.”
Citigroup, which climbed 38 percent on the New York Stock Exchange this year before today, advanced 19 cents, or 4.2 percent, to $4.75 in composite trading at 9:46 a.m.
Assets Increase
The bank’s assets increased 8 percent to $2 trillion, after accounting rule makers closed a loophole that had allowed banks to keep credit-card loans and other debt instruments off their balance sheets.
Revenue from continuing operations shrank 5.8 percent to $25.4 billion, while consumer-banking revenue rose 3.1 percent to $8.08 billion, Citigroup said.
Chief Financial Officer John Gerspach said on a conference call with reporters that the company took $800 million of write- ups on subprime mortgage bonds. Writedowns on subprime bonds were among the biggest causes of Citigroup’s losses over the past two years.
“Our performance was aided by stability in the capital markets and improvement in the global business climate,” Pandit said in the statement.
Under bank accounting rules, bad-loan costs include charge- offs during the quarter as well as any increases or decreases of loss reserves for future defaults.
Charge-Offs
Charge-offs in the first quarter climbed to $8.38 billion from $7.28 billion. Overall, the bad-loan costs fell because the bank released $18 million from its reserves, compared with an increase a year earlier of $2.63 billion.
Revenue from trading and investment banking fell 34 percent to $8 billion. Citigroup had $6.59 billion of trading revenue, exceeding Credit Suisse Group AG analyst Moshe Orenbuch’s estimate of $5 billion.
The bank had $1.06 billion of mergers-advisory and underwriting revenue. Orenbuch forecast $1.1 billion.
Citigroup Vice Chairman Edward “Ned” Kelly will become chairman of the investment-banking division, according to an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg News and confirmed by spokeswoman Danielle Romero-Apsilos.
Revenue in Citigroup’s global transaction services division, which manages bank accounts for corporations and acts as securities custodian for fund managers, was $2.44 billion, up from $2.37 billion.
The Citi Holdings division, which includes businesses that Pandit has said he wants to exit, had revenue of $6.55 billion, compared with $4.06 billion a year earlier.
Government’s Stake
Citigroup, which had to get a $45 billion bailout in 2008, repaid $20 billion of the funds in December. The remaining $25 billion was converted by the Treasury Department into 7.7 billion Citigroup shares, which have a market value of about $35 billion.
“All of us at Citi recognize that we would not be where we are without the assistance of American taxpayers,” Pandit said in the statement. He said the company was “gratified” to be able to repay the government “with a substantial return, as well as create a significant increase in the value of their equity in Citi.”
JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s first-quarter profit climbed 55 percent from a year earlier, and Bank of America Corp.’s fell 25 percent. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reports earnings tomorrow and Morgan Stanley is scheduled for April 21.
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