US financial companies Citigroup and Bank of America have given investors a lift by reporting earnings figures at the top end of expectations.

Citigroup posted earnings for the July to September period of $3.79bn (�2.45bn), equivalent to 74 cents a share, excluding one-off items

A strong performance from Citigroup's consumer division helped to offset bad debt provisions and investment losses.

Bank of America posted third-quarter earnings of $2.24bn (�1.45bn), or $1.45 a share, as growth in mortgages and credit cards helped to cover the weaker Wall Street operations.

'Solid' results

Including one-off items, Citigroup's net profit during the quarter hit $3.92bn, or 76 cents a share.

The figure was 23% higher than the same period a year ago, and was helped by the money it got for the sale of its New York headquarters.

"It looks pretty solid to me," said Brock Vandervliet, an analyst at Lehmans Brothers.

Citigroup's global consumer group saw its income rise 13% to $2.22bn, while the corporate and investment side of the business saw profits slide 7% to $1.2bn.

Chief executive Sanford Weill said the result was a "strong performance", despite the company being hit by the economic problems in Argentina and the political uncertainty in Brazil.

He added that the results were also hit by the "exceptionally weak equity markets, which have reduced the value of our proprietary investment portfolio and led to further realized losses in the insurance portfolio".

Citigroup is being investigated over possible conflicts of interest involving its analysts, and has also been accused of issuing reports that were too optimistic in an attempt to win business.

Mr Weill said the group was committed to addressing these accusations.

"Foremost in our minds has been restoring the trust of our customers and shareholders, and we continue to focus our efforts on resolving the issues facing our industry," he said.

Consumer boost

Like Citigroup, Bank of America's results were helped by its consumer division, which saw a lift in mortgages, credit cards and deposits.

The net income of $2.24bn for the quarter compared with $841m for the same period last year.

The 2001 figure included one-off costs relating to the company's exit from its auto leasing and sub prime real estate lending businesses.

"We continue to benefit from our diversified business mix," said BoA chief executive Kenneth Lewis.

"Third-quarter performance was led by strong growth in consumer banking, demonstrating the progress we're making in executing our customer-focused strategy."