Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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Mike Mayo: Okay. And then a second follow-up €“ or a follow-up, and then I’ll requeue for my other question. Your CET1 ratio is 13% now. And I think that’s two quarters earlier than consensus had expected. You said it was up 70 basis points. So doesn’t that allow you to repurchase stock now? Or I understand that if you go ahead and sell Banamex, that could have a temporary negative capital hit. So I’m just thinking like don’t sell Banamex, don’t have that temporary capital hit, start buying back stock at a fraction of your tangible book value. So what’s wrong with my logic or what part of that can you comment on?

Jane Fraser: I’m going to jump in on the, don’t sell Banamex, Mike. As you could imagine, so we are selling the consumer franchise. It does not fit with the strategy that we laid out in Investor Day. It’s an emerging market consumer franchise, and we are clearly focused around the multinational clients and in institutions and high net worth individuals with cross-border needs as we laid out very clearly and businesses that have strong connectivity across the €“ between each other. So we are €“ we don’t see Banamex having strategic fit in the consumer franchises in that perspective. And when we run all the math, it is in the shareholders’ interest that we sell that franchise and deploy that capital to our shareholders or into some of the investments at higher returns.

What you’re suggesting is a very short-term move. And I think as you can see from the actions we’re taking, we’re very focused on our medium and long-term and not taking the short-term path that we would regret in the medium and long-term.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question will come from Ebrahim Poonawala with Bank of America. Your line is now open.

Ebrahim Poonawala: Hey, good morning. I guess just one question as a follow-up on capital. As we think about post the second half of the year, let’s say, you’ve taken the hit from Banamex. But coming out of this test-test, any sense, Mark, if there is any reason why Citi would have an outsized negative impact from the Basel end game reforms. Just give us a sense, I’m just wondering hopefully, we don’t get another disappointment as we get our hopes it for buybacks in the back half and there is something idiosyncratic about the business mix that could come back to hurt the bank? Would love any perspective there?

Mark Mason: Yes. So look, as we pointed out, we’ve built a significant amount of capital over the course of the year. We are ahead of the target we set for the middle of the year, middle of the year. We do have some exits that will have a temporary impact on that CET1 ratio. And we do obviously have a DFAST that’s in front of us that we will have to see what the outcome is of that work. I think, look, the Basel end game and final views and decisions on that are still outstanding. And I think we will have to take those into consideration when they become available. That is an industry dynamic that will play out however it plays out. And similar to SACR, we will get after it in a very significant way to make sure that we’re able to handle whatever headwinds or tailwinds may come along with that. But it really is difficult at this point to opine on exactly what that means for the industry in light of the fact that there aren’t final rules out just yet.

Ebrahim Poonawala: Got it. And just back to your medium-term targets. I guess if we hit that bending the curve at the end of €˜24, it implies that this company should have an earnings power north of $10 by 25%, even at the lower end of the guidance. Am I missing anything there? Or like does that make sense?

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