Citi expects banking fees, trading revenue to climb despite US tariff "anxiety"

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."

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.

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.

Citi CEO Jane Fraser hired Raghavan and Andy Sieg, who leads its wealth division, to drive growth as she carried out a sweeping turnaround. The revamp is aimed at boosting profits and efficiency while meeting regulators' orders to fix widespread problems in risk management and controls.

(Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer and Basil Arasu Kannagi, editing by Lananh Nguyen)