Citibank Rt., a member of Citigroup, today announced that it increased its after-tax profits by 13% from HUF 11.3 billion in 2003 to HUF 12.8 billion in 2004. Total assets increased from HUF 363.4 to HUF 406.4 billion, a 12% increase. Total loan portfolio was HUF 152 billion and deposits were HUF 258.8 billion, return on equity (ROE) was 32.64%, and return on assets (ROA) was 3.33%.

Zdenek Turek, Citigroup Country Officer for Citibank Rt. at the time said: "Our franchise continued to be well-balanced in terms of financials as both our corporate and consumer businesses achieved good results. We continued with product innovation introducing a number of new services that are unique on the Hungarian market. We further developed our distribution network: opened three branches - in Szombathely, Békéscsaba and Kaposvár - and six sales centers - in Győr, Miskolc, Nyíregyháza, Pécs and Budapest, Kispest and Rákoskeresztúr areas, so that by the end of the year we had 22 branches and 14 sales centers across the country where we could serve our customers."

The corporate bank closed a large number of corporate finance deals in 2004. The treasury department succeeded in maintaining its leadership in developing structured solutions for the financing, hedging and investment needs of their customers and they reinforced their top position on the local derivative trading market.

The Securities Services business, which is part of Global Transaction Services, closed a very fruitful 2004 as a result of new acquisitions, favorable macroeconomic climate and Hungary's EU accession. Volumes increased by over 60% compared to the previous year and the assets under custody at Citibank Rt. exceeded USD 13 billion at the end of the year. Having introduced new value added products and further improved the service quality, they sustained their dominant position in servicing the global custodian and large international broker/dealer customers. Overall, the Global Transaction Services business has also closed a successful year, they have acquired a number of local and international customers, as well as expanded the business with the existing customers.

The bank organized a series of seminars and conferences for their corporate and CitiGold customers, where Citigroup market analysts, banking professionals and independent experts provided financial and capital markets updates, macroeconomic overviews and outlooks.

The number of consumer customers reached more than 320,000 at the end of 2004. The consumer business continued product innovation and introduced further unique services to their more than 180,000 credit card holder customers: the Equal Payment Plan (EPP) and Credit Guard. EPP allows customers to pay back domestic and international retail transaction amounts bought on their Citibank credit card as well as cash transactions in equal installments during the tenor selected by them, at a preferential interest rate. The Credit Guard consists of Price Protection and Purchase protection services.

Concerning core banking products, the two account packages - CitiComfort and CitiControl - have been restructured to better meet the customer needs.

The CitiGold business has grown dynamically. The number of customers using the exclusive services has reached 2,800 which is a 20% increase compared to the end of 2003 and the CitiGold portfolio exceeded HUF87 billion, a 25% growth on an annual basis. The CitiGold Wealth Planner service, which the bank introduced in 2003, proved to be very successful with the customers, who are now more open to looking at investments in longer terms and diversified portfolios. The investment product offering was increased by launching distribution of three new investment funds: Budapest Guaranteed Fund, Futura Index Tracking Fund and Credit Suisse Real Estate Fund.

The bank continued to build their SME business in the course of 2004. In particular, CitiBusiness had a good year both in terms of customer acquisition and financial results. The CitiBusiness services are competitive and build on assisting customers to identify their needs and opportunities for growth and offer them solutions that best support them in achieving these goals.

Citibank Rt. launched two new community programs in 2004 in addition to the traditional programs. Firstly, in the framework of the Habitat for Humanity House Building Employee Volunteering Program, four groups of 20 employees helped build houses for less fortunate families in Dunavarsány in addition to the $30,000 donated from the Citigroup Foundation. Secondly, the bank established the Citigroup Corporate Finance Chair Program to support the Corvinus University of Budapest in its endeavor to continuously increase the level of education and offer their students access to the most up-to-date information and trends in the financial markets. This is achieved partly by financial support of $40,000 from the Citigroup Foundation, and also, by organizing Citigroup local volunteers to give lectures and presentations in specific financial and banking subjects.

Continuing the traditional programs, the Citigroup Foundation gave a grant of $130,000 to continue the Citibank School Charity Program, which bought teaching materials to 17,000 students in 36 elementary schools across Hungary. Thirty secondary school students and 30 economics teachers took part in the annual 'Economics for Leaders' summer program in Hungary, which was also sponsored by the Citigroup Foundation.

The local business supported integrated studies of blind pupils for the second year. The bank continued the Hospital Charity Program started six years ago by supporting the SOTE No 1. Children's Hospital and finally, through Friends of Franz Liszt Music Academy, they supported further education of young talented Hungarian musicians for the fourth year.

Major financial data for Citibank Rt. (as of December 31st, 2004, according to Hungarian Accounting Standards)

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Credit card general APR: 41.75%, Equal Payment Plan APR: 25.80%. The APR has been calculated considering the actual terms and the effective laws; in case of the change of these terms the APR may also change. The APR does not reflect the interest risk of the credit. Uniform deposit interest rate index of the consumer current account: 0.50%. The General Terms and Conditions contain the detailed description of the deposit agreement. The Investment Products are subject to investment risks. Investment products are not bank deposits, are not government insured, are not an obligation of nor they are guaranteed by Citibank/Citigroup or its other affiliates. Citibank Rt. H-1051 Budapest Szabadság tér 7, Cg. 01-10-041029, Metropolitan Court acting as Court of Registration, PSZÁF III/41.048-9/2002, 20th December, 2002, a member of the Budapest Stock Exchange.

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Note to the editors
Citigroup (NYSE: C), the leading global financial services company has some 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 100 countries, providing consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, insurance, securities brokerage, and asset management. Major brand names under Citigroup's trademark red umbrella include Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Smith Barney, Banamex, and Travelers Life and Annuity.
The Citigroup Foundation focuses its grants primarily on financial education and community development, along with arts and culture, health and human services, and the environment. Additional information may be found at: www.citigroup.com.