Citigroup, the world's largest financial services company, said today that its third-quarter earnings rose 35 percent, helped by one-time gains on the sale of its Travelers Life and Annuity business as well as by increases in trading and investment banking.

But profits from its global consumer businesses fell 13 percent, to $2.72 billion, dragged down by the sluggish growth in its North American unit, which underwent a management shakeup during the quarter.

We have had "softer revenue growth in North America than we want," Charles O. Prince III, Citigroup's chief executive, said on a conference call this morning with investors and analysts. "This is something that I think we can do better."

Citigroup has sold itself as a financial services supermarket where the combination of a big institutional bank and large consumer-lending arm could enhance its strengths with a lower cost of financing. But more recently, the banking behemoth has relied on the strong performance of one division to offset the other's weaknesses. Critics say the company has grown too large to manage, pointing to a raft of scandals over the past few years that have sullied its reputation and performance.

With the Federal Reserve barring Citigroup from making any major acquisition until it tightens internal controls and addresses regulatory problems, Mr. Prince and his management team began carrying out a plan earlier this year to clean up the organization's act.

Today, the company said it earned $7.14 billion, or $1.38 a share, in the quarter, compared with $5.31, or $1.02 a share, in the quarter a year earlier. Revenue rose 15 percent, to $21.5 billion in the quarter, led by strong growth in its fixed income, investment banking and trading divisions. Its performance was also bolstered by expansion in international markets, especially in Mexico and parts of Latin America.

But in North America consumer business was weak, as interest-rate increases have squeezed profit margins because of a higher cost of funds. Even as interest revenues were up 20 percent, it was not enough to offset higher financing costs.

Credit-card business profits fell more than 6 percent in North America because of higher-than-expected payment rates and a surge of bankruptcy filings before a new law went into effect today. That led to significant write-off charges during the period, executives said, reducing profits by $124 million, or 2 cents per share.

The company also noted a series of unusual charges taken during the period. Hurricane Katrina, it said, had a $222 million impact, or about 4 cents per share. But the sale of the Travelers Insurance unit brought in more than $2.1 billion during the quarter, or a gain of 41 cents per share.

Citigroup said that it bought back about $5.5 billion worth of company stock during the third quarter and that it would continue to be aggressive.

Sallie Krawcheck, Citigroup's chief financial officer, said that the company was acting conservatively, even while interest rates remain favorable. For instance, the company has not aggressively marketed interest-only loans, unlike many of its competitors.

"While I wouldn't say anyone is pulling back on risk, people are declining to participate in the riskier area," she said. "We are in credit paradise and are trying to be quite careful because we often know where these paradises can end."