Citigroup, Inc.

Hello and welcome to Citi's second quarter 2019 earnings review. Today we are joined by Citi's Chief Executive Officer, Mike Corbett, Chief Financial Officer, Mark Mason. Today's call will be hosted by Elizabeth Lynn, Interim Head of Citi Investor Relations. we ask that you please hold all questions until the completion of the formal remarks, at which time you will be given instructions for the question and answer session. Also, as a reminder, this conference call is being recorded today. If you have any objections, please disconnect at this time. Ms. Lynn, you may begin.

Thank you, Operator. Good morning, and thank you all for joining us. On our call today, our CEO, Mike Corbett, will speak first. Then Mark Mason, our CFO, will take you through the earnings presentation, which is available for download on our website, citygroup.com. Afterwards, we will be happy to take questions. Before we get started, I'd like to remind you that today's presentation may contain forward-looking statements, which are based on management's current expectations and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results and capital and other financial conditions They differ materially from these statements due to a variety of factors, including the precautionary statements referenced in our discussion today, and those included in our SEC filings, including, without limitation, the risk factors section of our 2018 Form 10-K. With that said, let me turn it over to Mike.

Thank you, Liz, and good morning, everyone. This morning, we reported earnings of $4.8 billion for the second quarter of 2019. Our earnings per share of $1.95 were 20% higher than one year ago. We increased our return on assets year over year to 97 basis points and generated a return on tangible common equity of 11.9%, over 100 basis points better than last year. We delivered positive operating leverage for the 11th straight quarter and improved our efficiency while, again, growing loans and deposits. These results... stem from strong execution of our strategy across our lines of business and show the benefits of our global franchise and product mix. Global consumer banking saw 4% revenue growth overall in constant dollars with a contribution from every region. In North America, that was led by continued strong performance in branded cards. And again, we saw encouraging momentum in deposit growth, which accelerated from the first quarter and internationally, net income was up 25%. In Mexico, performance was driven by good underlying revenue growth, expense management, and credit discipline. In Asia, higher deposit revenues and a recovery in investment revenues drove growth in the region. In our institutional clients group, we delivered continued growth overall in our steadier transaction and accrual-type businesses, showing the strength of our global client network while we saw pressure in our market-sensitive businesses reflecting the broader industry, even in products like investment banking, where we continued to gain share. During the quarter, we received a non-objection from the Federal Reserve for our 2019 CCAR submission. That means we will meet the goal set at Investor Day to return at least $60 billion in capital over three CCAR cycles. Our $21.5 billion capital return will increase the three-year total to $62.3 billion and includes raising our dividend to 51 cents and continuing to buy back shares of common stock at roughly the same level as last year's plans. These buybacks have reduced our common shares outstanding by over 10% in the last year alone and helped drive our tangible book value per share up 10% over that same time period. Given the current environment and market conditions, we'll stay flexible with a focus on making steady progress towards our financial targets through client-led growth and resource discipline, including balance sheet, credit, and expenses. As we look to the second half, we'll continue to take a close look at our capacity to make sure that we're right-sized for the operating environment. However, we won't change our commitment to safety and soundness and to making investments necessary to strengthen our infrastructure and control environment. Client engagement remains strong, and we continue to enhance our capabilities to serve our clients the way they want to be served across our network. That said, there remains uncertainty with respect to the economic market and rate environment, but I think we've shown that our franchise can manage through these by focusing on the things that we can control. I'll now turn it over to Mark, and then we'd be happy to take your questions. Mark. Thank you, Mike, and good morning, everyone.