Citi India now ‘better off’ after retail unit sale, pivot to focus on corporate banking: Balasubramanian

Balasubramanian, who took over the position in April, said, “India’s IPO market is also booming. This has been the case for the last 18 months.” “Look at any newspaper and the first 10 pages are all IPO ads.”

Local lists collided ₹1.77 trillion this year, surpassing last year’s high ₹According to compiled data, 1.73 trillion Bloomberg.

Balasubramanian said Citi can offer things that local companies cannot.

“We can actually help them put foreign currency into their wallets or help them tap into the international bond market. We can also help them get currency from the stock market, both in pure equity and convertible form,” he said.

Citi is betting on companies to drive growth in India following the sale of its consumer unit in 2023. Two years after completion of sale of retail banking business in India to private lender Axis Bank ₹11,603 crore in March 2023, Citi seems to have more than made up for the loss in its retail business.

“Our income today is 30% more than the combined income of consumers and companies,” said Balasubramanian, who is also the president of the Indian subcontinent, which includes Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. “Not only did we do a good job, we even did a better job than when we were retail.”

revenue growth

Citi India reported net profit ₹6,193 crore behind ₹22,173 crore revenue in 2024-25. Although profit in FY25 was lower than the previous year, it was around 51% higher than in FY22, the last year when the consumer business was in-house. Revenue has increased both since FY22 and between FY24 and FY25.

The CEO’s tenure began at a pivotal time. India has consistently recorded strong economic growth, and the domestic consumption-based economy acts as a buffer of sorts. Bankers also see green shoots of a revival in private capital spending after years of massive government infrastructure investments. With Citi banking in its corporate portfolio, Balasubramanian could shape the lender’s new identity in India.

Balasubramanian, or Bala as he is known in Citi and banking circles, has been with the New York-based lender for almost 26 years. Former Citi executives said the new CEO has what it takes to drive Citi’s growth in India, and the more time a CEO spends in the role, the better. Longer CEO tenures make more sense for foreign banks, as opposed to the shorter tenures that were previously the norm, according to Pramit Jhaveri, the bank’s chief in India from 2010 to 2019.

“As the Indian economy grows, opportunities for institutions like Citi become more attractive. Experience in such markets matters. You need someone who has been around and understands how to deal with local intricacies and challenges,” said Jhaveri, who currently sits on the boards of multiple companies.

Balasubramanian is also looking forward to overseas deals and expects India to engage in more cross-border activities especially from those who want to buy assets in the USA and Europe.

European assets

Some examples have already occurred in the past 15 months. Vehicle maker Tata Motors Ltd, part of the Tata Group, a conglomerate that has transitioned from salt to software, will buy Italian truck and bus maker Iveco for $4.36 billion. Bharti Global, the international investment arm of Bharti Enterprises, completed the acquisition of a 24.5% stake in British Telecom in November last year.

“There are a few other smaller companies and a number of similar situations that we are involved in. Assets in the European markets today are distressed in terms of valuation and so there is always an opportunity for people to go and buy,” Balasubramanian said.

He said local companies are increasingly looking at acquiring technology or assets to gain access to it. markets.

“I think this will be a continuing trend and industries like IT, automotive, some industrial sectors and pharmaceuticals will all see some inorganic activity over the next few years,” he said.

According to EY’s data, a total of 280 mergers and acquisitions transactions were recorded in the third quarter of 2025; 203 of these were domestic transactions. Of these, 41 were outgoing deals and 36 were incoming deals.

“This distribution highlights a strong trend of domestic consolidation accompanied by active cross-border deals in both directions, underscoring a balanced and flexible deal-making environment,” EY said in a Nov. 28 note. he said.

Experts see a positive development in Citi India’s focus on corporate activities.

of india Credit growth has been fueled by insatiable demand for personal loans for several years. Much of this growth came as banks and nonbank financiers fell out with each other to make loans that were not backed by collateral and were impossible to recover once they went bad. Numerous warnings and regulations by the Reserve Bank of India have made it more expensive to provide such loans and have managed to curb this over-exuberance.

Capacity expansion

“With economic growth and subsequent high capacity utilization, companies will look to expand, which presents an opportunity for Citi,” said Ashvin Parekh, managing partner of Ashvin Parekh Advisory Services LLP.

Parekh said the reduction in goods and services tax has increased consumer demand for fast moving consumer goods, vehicles or consumer durables.

“Companies have the option of going to the markets to increase their funds when they expand their capacity, but they will continue to depend on the banking system to strengthen their balance sheets. In this environment, a foreign banker like Citibank will benefit,” Parekh said.

There was a loan book in the Indian branch of the Wall Street bank ₹72,260 crore as on March 31, a 6% increase over the previous year. The capital adequacy ratio of the bank was 20.38% in FY25 as compared to 19.61% in the previous fiscal.