Citigroup’s EU unit in Dublin, the largest bank in the State, booked a net loan impairment charge of $124 million (€108 million) last year due to reflect “heightened global risk and prevailing economic uncertainty”.
A 14 per cent increase in the bank’s loan portfolio to $30.2 billion (€28.9 billion) also contributed to the precautionary charge, even though the overall quality of its loan book “remained stable”, Citibank Europe said in its latest annual financial statement filed with the Companies Registration Office this week.
The loan provision predated the breakout of war in Iran at the end of February, which sent energy prices soaring and clouded the outlook for inflation and the global economy.
The financial institution, which surpassed Bank of Ireland in 2024 to become the largest bank in the Republic by assets, saw its balance sheet expand by 17 per cent last year to $210 billon, driven by an increase in trading assets, investment securities and loans.
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Net profit declined by 9.4 per cent to $1.88 billion, with a drop in net interest income, as global rates declined and a capital loss booked on the agreed sale of the company’s last remaining European consumer bank, Bank Handlowy in Poland, more than offsetting an increase in fee and commission income.
The board plans to pay a $1.69 billion dividend to its US parent on last year’s earnings, down from a payout of $1.85 billion handed over last year, according to the report.
Ireland has been home to Citigroup’s EU banking headquarters since early 2016, before the Brexit referendum. The bank has branches in 20 other European countries and employed a total of more than 16,900 staff at the end of last year. It has about 3,000 employees in Ireland.
Citigroup Europe is set to move into new offices being built by developer Johnny Ronan’s Ronan Group Real Estate (RGRE) at Waterfront South Central in Dublin’s north docklands in the final two months of this year. The total cost to the bank for the site and construction is estimated at about €300 million.
The bank agreed to sell its existing Liffey-side headquarters in 2023 for about €140 million to RGRE, which aims to redevelop the property after it is vacated.
Iran’s cyber-attacks on Irish-based companies and the ongoing impact of conflict in the Middle East
Citibank Europe, led by Ignacio (Nacho) Gutiérrez-Orrantia, continues to monitor a “shifting global environment in 2026, marked by moderate economic growth as higher interest rates weigh on advanced economies while emerging markets show relatively stronger momentum”, according to the report.
“Trade policy remains uncertain, with tariff changes and supply-chain realignments. Geopolitical risk, including the Russia-Ukraine war and the Middle East conflict, continue to influence energy markets and supply-chain conditions,” it said.
For the full year 2025, Citigroup as a whole reported a net profit of $14.3 billion on revenues of $85.2 billion, marking an increase from the $12.7 billion net income on $80.7 billion in revenue reported for 2024.
