Citigroup Inc. (C) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Prepared Remarks

Questions and Answers

Call Participants

Prepared Remarks:

Operator

Hello and welcome to Citi's Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Review with the Chief Executive Officer, Jane Fraser and Chief Financial Officer, Mark Mason.

Today's call will be hosted by Jen Landis, 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. Landis, you may begin.

Jen Landis

Thank you, operator. Good morning and thank you all for joining us. I'd like to remind you that today's presentation, which is available for download on our website citigroup.com, may contain forward-looking statements which are based on management's current expectations and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may differ materially from these statements due to a variety of factors, including those described in our earnings materials as well as in our SEC filings.

And with that, I will turn it over to Jane.

Jane Fraser

Thank you, Jen. And good morning to everyone. While this quarter wasn't as eventful as the first quarter, it was not without its moments. The global economy continues to be remarkably resilient, although the macro backdrop differs across key markets. And while the bulk of the tightening is behind us, central banks are responding vigorously to inflation and have made it clear the cycle of hikes isn't over.

In the US the tight labor market keeps pushing the timing of this elusive recession later into this year or 2024 with the robust demand for services providing a backstop for the economy. The Eurozone has also exceeded expectations. However, most countries there are facing pressure from labor and energy costs, challenging the region's longer-term competitiveness.

China is the biggest disappointment as growth decelerated after an initial post reopening pop. I was there last month and let's just say few on the ground expect China to be as strong a driver of global growth this year as some had hoped. So bottom line, globally we continue to see the same quite challenging macroeconomic conditions that we [Technical Difficulty] benefits of our diversified business model and strong balance sheet. We remain laser focused on executing our strategy and simplifying and modernizing our bank. Despite the turbulence and macro backdrop of the first half, we're on track with the plan we laid out at Investor Day and we remain committed to our strategy and our medium-term ROTCE target.