Pre-tax profits at the main Irish arm of Citibank last year fell by 15 per cent to $823.1 million (€593.2 million).

Accounts filed by the Dublin-based Citibank Europe plc show the bank sustained the drop in profits after its operating income reduced from $1.798 billion to $1.732 billion in the 12 months to the end of December last.

Net interest income last year declined from $486.9 million to $441.65 million and net fee and commission income totalled $1.08 billion. The bank’s balance sheet increased from $24.2 billion to $25.5 billion, principally due to increased lending to commercial clients and increased customer deposits.

It paid corporation tax of $108.67 million on its profits.

In the fourth quarter of 2013, the firm paid a dividend of $800 million to its parent, Citibank Holdings Ltd, but according to the directors’ report “the business environment in which the company operates, remained challenging in 2013”.

“Already low interest rates continued to decline in the company’s markets, impacting interest rate margins” and “general uncertainty in the macro-economic environment also impacted corporate confidence and consequently client activity”, according to the report.

The bank reported that its operating expenses increased from $803 million to $877million.