Citigroup, Inc.

Hello and welcome to Citi's fourth quarter 2019 earnings review. Today we are joined by Citi's Chief Executive Officer, Mike Corbat, the Chief Financial Officer, and Mark Mason, CFO. Today's call will be hosted by Elizabeth Lin, 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 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 Corbat, 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. Afterward, we will be happy to take questions. Before we get started, I'd like to remind you that today's presentation is may contain forward-looking statements which are based on management's current expectations and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results, capital, and other financial conditions may 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 factor section of our 2018 Form 10-K. With that said, let me turn it over to Mike.

Thank you, Liz. This morning, we announced that we had a strong close to 2019. We reported earnings of $5 billion for the fourth quarter, bringing our net income to $19.4 billion for the year, the highest since 2006. Our earnings per share of $2.15 were over 30% higher than a year ago, and the $8.04 for the full year was over 20% above 2018. We finished the year with a return on tangible common equity of 12.1%, just ahead of our 12% target for the year. And this is 120 basis points higher than our 2018 return on tangible common equity of 10.9%. In constant dollars, our 2019 underlying revenues increased by 4% in both global consumer banking and our institutional clients group. Good revenue growth paired with disciplined expense management allowed us to deliver positive operating leverage even as we continued to make significant investments in the franchise. Pre-tax earnings were up 5%. We also had loan and deposit growth for the year and for the 16th consecutive quarter. Our return on assets rose to 98 basis points for the year. Our strong finish to 2019 was a result of balanced performance across both products and geographies. Both North America and international consumer banking had 4% year-over-year revenue growth. In the U.S., branded cards revenues continued to grow at a healthy clip with a 10% increase for the quarter, bringing the full year increase to 8%. We continued to attract digital deposits from both existing and new customers, bringing the total to $6 billion for the year. Better sentiment helped increase our wealth management revenues in Asia, and our cards business contributed to growth in Mexico. Investor sentiment also positively impacted our institutional business for the fourth quarter. Fixed income was up nearly 50%. From a tough final quarter of 2018, equities didn't perform as well, mainly due to weakness in derivatives. We continued to gain share in investment banking, and the private bank posted good revenue growth of 6%. Treasury and trade solutions continued to grow, despite a lower rate environment, as we work to ensure our global network remains indispensable to our multinational clients. We ended the year in a strong capital position with a common equity tier one ratio of 11.7%, and we're on track to deliver our investor day commitment of returning more than $60 billion of capital to our shareholders over three CCAR cycles, having returned over $22 billion in 2019 alone. Our dividend creates a very respectable yield for our common shareholders. and we reduced our shares outstanding by 11% during the year. Our tangible book value per share increased to over $70, a 10% increase for the year. I'm very proud of our firm's performance. As we did in 2018, we hit our return target for the year despite an uncertain environment which saw trade disputes, rising geopolitical tensions, and still no finality regarding Brexit. As we told you entering the year, we prepared for multiple scenarios and used multiple levers to manage the firm through the uncertainty and deliver a solid year for our shareholders. We enter 2020 in a strong competitive position from capital and liquidity to talent and technology. We continue to invest in areas where we see opportunities for client-led growth and in our infrastructure. In light of the enduring need, to be an indisputably strong and stable institution. We're looking forward to sharing with you how we'll take our firm forward over the next several years. With that in mind, we will hold our next Investor Day on May 13th. The environment has changed meaningfully since our 2017 Investor Day, and we'll lay out what we aspire to this year and beyond. Now let me turn it over to Mark, and then we'd be happy to answer your questions. Mark?