Citizens Financial Group Reports $1.8 Billion Net Income for Fiscal Year 2025

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. reported a net income of $1.8 billion for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025, a $322 million increase compared to the previous year. This translates to earnings per diluted common share of $3.86, up $0.83 from 2024. The company's net interest income rose to $5.9 billion, a $220 million increase, with the net interest margin improving by 13 basis points to 2.97%. This growth in net interest income was attributed to lower funding costs, stemming from the runoff of the auto loan portfolio, the sale of education loans, reduced terminated swap impacts, and benefits from fixed-rate asset repricing, which were partially offset by lower asset yields.

Noninterest income also saw an increase, reaching $2.4 billion, a $218 million rise compared to 2024. This was driven by growth in wealth and capital markets fees. However, noninterest expense increased by $77 million to $5.3 billion, primarily due to salaries and employee benefits related to the expansion of Private Bank and Private Wealth, strong capital markets fee performance, and increased medical benefit costs. This increase was partially offset by a decline in other operating expenses, mainly due to lower FDIC deposit insurance costs. The company's provision expense decreased by $79 million to $608 million, reflecting an improving loan mix and reduced commercial real estate exposure.

Strategic developments during the year included the sale of $1.9 billion of education loans, which resulted in a $25 million charge-off covered by existing reserves. The company also repurchased $600 million of its outstanding common stock, with $1.3 billion remaining under its share repurchase program. Additionally, Citizens Financial Group issued $400 million of 6.500% fixed-rate reset non-cumulative perpetual Series I Preferred Stock and redeemed all outstanding shares of its 5.650% fixed-rate reset non-cumulative perpetual Series F Preferred Stock. The company's Board of Directors also declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.46 per share, a 9.5% increase from the prior quarter.

Key operational developments included an increase in total deposits, driven by growth in the Private Bank, partially offset by a reduction in higher-cost brokered deposits. The company's tangible book value per common share increased by 18% to $38.07, driven by a decrease in common shares outstanding and a net increase in tangible common equity. The company's efficiency ratio improved to 64.40% from 67.03% in 2024, and its return on average tangible common equity (ROTCE) increased to 11.20% from 9.81% in the previous year. The company's outlook includes a continued focus on growing high-quality deposits, deepening customer relationships, driving scale in growth markets, delivering high-quality solutions and advice, optimizing the balance sheet and business mix, and investing in its people and communities.