By Tatiana Bautzer and Arasu Kannagi Basil
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Citigroup’s head of banking Vis Raghavan said on Tuesday that performance in its banking and trading divisions will improve this quarter despite “anxiety” over U.S. tariffs.
Banking fees will increase by a mid-single digit percentage in the second quarter versus the previous year, while markets revenue will rise by a mid-to-high single digit percentage, he told investors at a conference.
Dealmaking has stalled this year as President Donald Trump’s tariff and fiscal policies roiled markets, fueling economic uncertainty. Still, bank executives have expressed optimism about a resurgence.
Citi’s clients consider 10% tariffs as a “floor” and are analyzing to absorb the cost of 10% to 20% tariffs on imports, Raghavan said. The lack of clarity over the final tariff outcome “froze” markets in April, but transaction volumes have improved since then as the stock market bounced back.
“M&A continues to be super active — there’s a lot of dialog, a lot of engagement,” he said. “The debt market will be more a function of how the M&A market manifests itself, through acquisition financing.”
Citigroup advised Mars on its $35.9 billion acquisition of Kellanova. The bank also advised Charter Communications in its $21.9 billion merger with Cox Communications.
Some IPOs have returned as stocks rose, particularly for tech or digital asset firms companies that are less affected by tariffs, he said.
“We had some recent deals that have done really well, but generally the IPO market is kind of bit stagnant to the extent that there is a manufacturing or a supply chain aspect to it.”
The bank’s cost of credit is expected to increase by a “few hundred million dollars” due to building reserves to reflect macroeconomic conditions, he said.
Raghavan, who joined from JPMorgan Chase a year ago, has steered growth in Citi’s banking division. Its revenue rose 12% in the first quarter to $2 billion versus a year earlier.
While Citi has a “deep bench” of talent, it plans to add staff in the United Kingdom, Germany, China, Japan, India and the Middle East, he said. It also wants to add bankers in the technology, industrial and healthcare sectors.
The executive’s compensation was $49.1 million in his first year, including a $39 million stock award for equity that he had forfeited from a previous employer which will be paid out over time, according to a filing. Raghavan worked at JPMorgan for more than two decades.
