"Contributing to the beat were both lower than expected credit costs (positive as reserve releases were below our estimates) and a lower than expected tax rate (not a high quality earnings driver)," wrote UBS analyst Brennan Hawken, in a Monday note to clients. Citigroup shares rose over 1% to $26.94 in afternoon trading, stemming stock losses of over 20% in the last three months. The Bank's steady profits mostly resulted from bottom-line expense cuts and credit improvements. Citigroup said that its allowance for loan losses dropped to $27.6 billion, or 4.3% of total loans, compared with allowances of 5.4% at this time last year. Those credit improvements beat some expectations. "While a low tax rate, a $984 million reserve release, and some slowing in Asia will draw some attention, we think the overall Citi story is intact and very interesting at 51% of tangible book value ," wrote Nomura Securities analyst Glenn Schorr, in a Monday note to clients.