Citigroup has named a woman to be its new chief executive in a first for a Wall Street bank.
Briton Jane Fraser, its current president and head of global consumer division, is to become its new boss when current chief Michael Corbat retires in February.
He is stepping down after 37 years at the bank, including eight as leader.
It comes as the male-dominated world of US finance faces pressure to diversify its ranks.
Scotland-born Ms Fraser has worked at Citi for 16 years, serving in her current role since 2019. She oversees business in 19 countries and previously led its Latin America division.
Seen as a rising star, she was recently considered for the role of chief executive at Wells Fargo, another top US bank.
The chair of Citi’s board of directors, John Dugan, said Ms Fraser would take the bank “to the next level”.
“She has deep experience across our lines of business and regions and we are highly confident in her,” he said.
Last year, Royal Bank of Scotland named Alison Rose as its first female chief executive, making her the first woman to run any of the big four banks in the UK.
But at the end of 2019, just 31 women held the top spots at major American companies listed on the S&P 500 index, none of which were banks.
At a congressional hearing last year, the heads of seven of America’s biggest banks, including current Citi boss Mr Corbat, were questioned about the lack of diversity and asked if they believed they would be succeeded by a woman or person of colour. None said yes.
At Citi, Ms Fraser has frequently been charged with turning around troubled parts of the bank, the fourth largest in the US. She worked in its mortgage division following the financial crisis and was put in charge in Latin America after a scandal in its bank in Mexico.
She is poised to take charge as the bank grapples with the economic fallout of the pandemic. In the most recent quarter, Citi’s profits plunged 73% as it set aside more than $7bn to cover potential losses.
Ms Fraser, whose compensation was $12.5m (£9.7m) last year, has said being a good leader means setting a vision, having the courage to make “tough calls”, and asking questions.
‘You cannot have it all’
Born in St Andrews, Scotland, she has degrees from Harvard Business School and Cambridge University. The 53-year-old started her career at Goldman Sachs in London, joining Citi after rising to be a partner at consulting giant McKinsey.
She has said she moved to the US because of the opportunities she saw for women there and spoken about confronting machismoas a female executive in Latin America
A married mum of two, she has also addressed work-life balance, telling broadcaster CNN in 2014: “You cannot have it all at the same time. You can have it all, spread over decades. I think of my life in different chunks. When the kids were little, I needed to be around more, but it’s different now.”
However, in a 2018 interview she denied aspiring to the top spot.
“I look forward to seeing a woman being the first CEO of a Wall Street firm whoever that may be,” she said. “I’ve never had the ambition to be the CEO of Citi or any other organization. Things can change over time. But at the moment, I’ve still got a lot to learn.”
CALGARY – TC Energy Corp. has lowered the estimated cost of its Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico.
It says it now expects the project to cost between US$3.9 billion and US$4.1 billion compared with its original estimate of US$4.5 billion.
The change came as the company reported a third-quarter profit attributable to common shareholders of C$1.46 billion or $1.40 per share compared with a loss of C$197 million or 19 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totalled C$4.08 billion, up from C$3.94 billion in the third quarter of 2023.
TC Energy says its comparable earnings for its latest quarter amounted to C$1.03 per share compared with C$1.00 per share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
BCE Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter as it recorded $2.11 billion in asset impairment charges, mainly related to Bell Media’s TV and radio properties.
The company says its net loss attributable to common shareholders amounted to $1.24 billion or $1.36 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $640 million or 70 cents per share a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, BCE says it earned 75 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 81 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
“Bell’s results for the third quarter demonstrate that we are disciplined in our pursuit of profitable growth in an intensely competitive environment,” BCE chief executive Mirko Bibic said in a statement.
“Our focus this quarter, and throughout 2024, has been to attract higher-margin subscribers and reduce costs to help offset short-term revenue impacts from sustained competitive pricing pressures, slow economic growth and a media advertising market that is in transition.”
Operating revenue for the quarter totalled $5.97 billion, down from $6.08 billion in its third quarter of 2023.
BCE also said it now expects its revenue for 2024 to fall about 1.5 per cent compared with earlier guidance for an increase of zero to four per cent.
The company says the change comes as it faces lower-than-anticipated wireless product revenue and sustained pressure on wireless prices.
BCE added 33,111 net postpaid mobile phone subscribers, down 76.8 per cent from the same period last year, which was the company’s second-best performance on the metric since 2010.
It says the drop was driven by higher customer churn — a measure of subscribers who cancelled their service — amid greater competitive activity and promotional offer intensity. BCE’s monthly churn rate for the category was 1.28 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent during its previous third quarter.
The company also saw 11.6 per cent fewer gross subscriber activations “due to more targeted promotional offers and mobile device discounting compared to last year.”
Bell’s wireless mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.26, down 3.4 per cent from $60.28 in the third quarter of the prior year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. trimmed its financial guidance as it reported its second-quarter revenue fell compared with a year ago.
The luxury clothing company says revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 29 totalled $267.8 million, down from $281.1 million in the same quarter last year.
Net income attributable to shareholders amounted to $5.4 million or six cents per diluted share, up from $3.9 million or four cents per diluted share a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, Canada Goose says it earned five cents per diluted share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 16 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
In its outlook, Canada Goose says it now expects total revenue for its full financial year to show a low-single-digit percentage decrease to low-single-digit percentage increase compared with earlier guidance for a low-single-digit increase.
It also says it now expects its adjusted net income per diluted share to show a mid-single-digit percentage increase compared with earlier guidance for a percentage increase in the mid-teens.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
