Citigroup Incorporated said Friday its second-quarter profit jumped 24 percent, surpassing Wall Street expectations, as the bank lost less money on bad loans. The third-biggest U.S. bank by assets said its profit rose to $3.34 billion from $2.7 billion in the second quarter a year ago. It was the sixth consecutive quarterly profit for Citigroup, which needed $45 billion in U.S. government rescue funds to survive the financial crisis. Since December, when the U.S. government sold the last of its common-share stake in the bank, chief executive Vikram Pandit has been trying to show investors that Citigroup can move beyond recovery to growth. But increasing business has been difficult this year for most U.S. banks, as weak fixed-income trading and market volatility have hurt results. Citigroup reported that quarterly revenue fell nearly 7 percent from a year earlier to $20.6 billion but was slightly better than expected. Citigroup shares were up almost 3 percent in pre-market trading.
