Citigroup Inc reported higher third-quarter earnings on Monday as the bank set aside less money to cover bad loans and recorded an accounting gain banks can take in turbulent markets.

Citigroup, the third-largest U.S. bank by assets, reported net income of $3.77 billion, or $1.23 per share, up from $2.17 billion, or 72 cents per share, a year earlier.

The latest results included a pre-tax gain of $1.9 billion, or 39 cents per share, due to the bank's widening credit spreads during the quarter.

Excluding that gain, Citi earned $2.6 billion, or 84 cents per share.

It was not immediately clear if the results were comparable with analysts' average earnings forecast of 84 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The bank -- which received two U.S. government bailouts at the height of the financial crisis -- is seeing its problem loan portfolio shrink.

Nonaccrual loans fell to $7.95 billion from $12.46 billion in the same quarter last year.

The bank's share price has fallen about 40 percent this year, in line with declines for other large banks.

Citigroup shares rose 1 percent in premarket trading to $28.67 after the quarterly results were announced.

(Reporting by Joe Rauch in Charlotte, N.C.; editing by John Wallace)

Citigroup