Citigroup 4Q earnings miss Wall Street's target

NEW YORK: Citigroup is reporting earnings that are below Wall Street's expectations as the bank's legal expenses climb.
Citi earned $ 1.2 billion after paying preferred dividends, or 38 cents per share, in the three months ended Dec. 31. That compares with $ 933 million, or 31 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.
Excluding one-time costs related to restructuring and accounting for outstanding debt, the bank earned 69 cents per share. That's well below the 97 cents per share analysts polled by FactSet were expecting.
Revenue rose to $ 18.7 billion, up 8 percent from the same period a year earlier and slightly below forecasts.
The bank had $ 1.3 billion in legal and related expenses in the quarter.
Citi's stock fell $ 1.46 to $ 41.02 in pre-market trading Thursday.