Citigroup Consumer Unit May Miss 2020 Goals

Citigroup, the third-largest bank in the U.S., could miss the financial targets for 2020 in the consumer division, reported The Financial Times.

Despite the report from The Financial Times, executives at Citigroup are confident the unit can overcome challenges this year. It was evident in the ranking Stephen Bird, head of the consumer unit at Citigroup, received. According to the FT, Bird received the lowest score among his co-workers in the proxy statement at the bank. Each of the five top executives at Citi was ranked on a one-to-five scale for the performance for last year. Bird received a 4 rating, which indicated underperformance on four out of five categories, reported the FT.

The report noted that no other executives received a grade lower than 3. He did get high marks for client satisfaction and digital product development. The score is important because it is used to determine how much Bird will receive in compensation. For 2018, Bird was awarded $11.5M in cash and deferred compensation. It was a 10 percent increase in compensation.

When Citi reported fourth-quarter earnings, the company’s outgoing Chief Financial Officer John Gerspach was peppered with questions from analysts on an earnings conference call about why improvements in the consumer unit are still ongoing at Citi. The CFO said, according to the FT: “Most of the work still has to get done in the consumer business. We need to improve the efficiency in our retail business” while increasing revenue growth.

Citigroup contends that the lackluster results last year were due to a weak mortgage market, a tough going in Asia and partnership deals with retailers that hurt revenue in the card business.