NEW YORK (Reuters):
CITIGROUP INC.'S international consumer chief said on Tuesday his unit is looking to generate annual profit growth at a mid-teens percentage by a combination of opening new branches and'selective' acquisitions in Europe and Asia.
Speaking at the Reuters Banking Summit, Ajay Banga, who runs the international consumer unit, said he views Brazil, China, India and Korea as key markets in which the New York-based company can expand its existing network, while considering potential acquisitions.
Citigroup, the largest United States bank, this year hopes to add 200 branches, including automated loan machines, and 400 consumer finance locations outside North America.
Banga also said the international consumer business, which includes retail banking, credit cards and consumer finance, was on track for 'good' growth in 2006, and had performed in line with its expectations in January and February.
Within slower-growing Europe, "to get a decent size in these countries, it's going to be tough to do it organically in the next few years," Banga said. Acquisitions would "most likely" be needed, he said.
"We are already relatively big in Belgium, Germany and Greece and I would like to get scale in those three and a bigger presence of some of the others," Banga said at the summit in New York.
Citigroup's largest global rivals include HSBC Holdings Plc, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and JPMorgan Chase & Co., among others.
In August, Citigroup Chief Executive Charles Prince divided the consumer business into international operations, led by Banga, and North American operations, led by Steve Freiberg.
In 2005, the international business increased profit 6 percent to $4.1 billion, while revenue increased 12 percent to $18.4 billion.
Both figures amounted to 38 percent of the totals for Citigroup's overall consumer business. To achieve his growth targets, Banga wants to increase the profit contribution by the international business to 50 percent in four to five years.
