The increase in private banking revenues was primarily driven by a rise in lending and deposits business in North America, combined with stronger capital markets activity, the New York-listed bank said.

The private bank falls within Citi’s securities and banking business line, which reported revenues of $5.3 billion, a drop in 12 per cent on a year-over-year basis.

Net income at the securities and banking unit – which wasn’t broken down for the private banking division separately – was $1.2 billion, down 28 per cent on a year-over-year basis.   

Overall,Citigroup reported net income of $2.9 billion for the first quarter 2012, down 2 per cent on a year-over-year basis, on revenues of $19.4 billion, also down 2 per cent.

“We continued to wind down our Citi Holdings legacy portfolio, which now stands at 11 per cent of our total assets, while further building capital. With a Tier 1 Common Ratio of 12.4 per cent under Basel I and an estimated Tier 1 Common Ratio of 7.2 per cent under Basel III, we continue to be one of the best capitalized banks in the world,” said Vikram Pandit, chief executive of the bank.