Citizens Financial's first-quarter profit surges on interest income, fees boost

Citizens Financial

16/04/2026 12:04

April 16 (Reuters) - Citizens Financial Group CFG.N reported a near 39% jump in first-quarter profit on Thursday, driven by higher interest income and growth in fees from the bank's capital markets business.

Across the industry, lenders are seeing growth in interest income as loan demand from both businesses and consumers rebounds and competition for deposits eases, lowering the cost of holding customer deposits.

Net interest income, a key measure of profitability that reflects the difference between what a bank earns on loans and pays on deposits, rose 12% to $1.56 billion in the first quarter.

Its net interest margins expanded 24 basis points to 3.14% during the three months ended March 31. Average loans and leases grew to $143.4 billion from $139.7 billion a year ago.

Shares of the bank climbed nearly 1% in premarket trading after the results.

Its profit was also boosted by a jump in fees from advising clients on deals and wealth management, with non-interest income rising 11% during the quarter.

Smaller banks have in recent years made inroads into investment banking and wealth management, businesses long dominated by Wall Street heavyweights.

Citizens' capital markets fees surged 34%, while wealth fees jumped 23% over the year earlier.

The Providence, Rhode Island-based bank reported a quarterly net profit of $517 million, or $1.13 per share, compared with $373 million, or 77 cents, a year earlier.

The results mirror trends at larger Wall Street rivals such as JPMorgan Chase JPM.N and Bank of America BAC.N, which also beat estimates for quarterly profit this week.

Separately, Citizens disclosed that private credit finance accounted for about $4.1 billion of its $74.6 billion commercial credit portfolio.

The disclosure comes as private credit faces heightened investor scrutiny amid growing concerns about stress in parts of the market, which has expanded at breakneck speed in recent years.

 (Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)

 ((Manya.Saini@thomsonreuters.com; X: manya__saini;))