• Pandemic hits the banking sector's profits
• Citigroup’s (C.US) and Goldman’s (GS.US) first-quarter profits slumped 46%

The most important companies continue to report results for the first quarter of this year. Bank of America (BAC.US), a financial giant, reported that its revenues in the first quarter of 2020 amounted to $22.8 billion , which means a 1% decrease compared to the same period a year ago. Earnings per share decreased by 43% y / y to $0.40 , and net profit decreased by 45% to $4 billion. Company reported net interest income: at $12.3 billion. Bank added $3.6 billion to loan loss reserves in the quarter. Analysts expected earnings per share of 46 cents on revenue of $ 22.9 billion. Net interest income was expected to come in at $ 11.7 billion.
In this quarter, Goldman allocated $937 million for loan losses, as the company has a smaller book of loans compared to other banks and cited higher provisions for corporate loans in the flailing energy sector.
US Bancorp (USB.US) announced first quarter earnings that missed forecasts and revenue that came above expectations. US Bancorp announced earnings per share of $ 0.72 on revenue of $ 5.77B. Analysts expected EPS of $ 0.82 on revenue of $ 5.57B. That with comparison to EPS of $ 1 on revenue of $ 5.58B in the same period a year before. US Bancorp had reported EPS of $ 0.9 on revenue of $ 5.67B in the previous quarter. Analysts are expecting EPS of $ 0.85 and revenue of $ 5.69B in the next quarter. Company shares are down 39.62% from January.
Citigroup’s (C.US) also released first-quarter earnings report. Earnings: $1.05 per share vs $1.87 per share in the year-earlier period. Revenue: $20.7 billion, up 12% from the previous year Net income: $2.52 billion, down 46% from the prior year as company sets aside more money for loan losses Loan loss reserves: up $4.9 billion Citigroup announced that revenue was 12% higher thanks to higher fixed income and equity markets trading revenue. Citigroup shares fell nearly 3% in the premarket. Analysts anticipated earnings per share of $1.04 on revenue of $19 billion. “Our earnings for the first quarter were significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,” CEO Michael Corbat said in a statement. “The deteriorating economic outlook and the transition to the new Current Expected Credit Loss standard (CECL) caused us to build significant loan loss reserves.” Citigroup shares have tumbled more than 43% since the beginning of the year.
