Citigroup‘s (C) third-quarter earnings rose considerably to narrowly top analysts’ estimates, as the banking giant lowered its provisions for loan losses once again.   The bank holding company earned $2.15 billion, or 7 cents a share, for the three months ended Sept. 30. For the year ago quarter, the company reported a loss of $3.24 billion, or 27 cents a share. Third-quarter revenue rose about 1.7% in the quarter to $20.74 billion from $20.39 billion a year earlier. Income from continuing operations, which excluded a loss of $435 million from the sale of Student Loan Corp., was $2.6 billion, or 8 cents  a share. The company said provisions for credit losses for the third quarter fell to $5.9 billion, which is the lowest level since the second quarter of 2007 and less than half the $12.11 billion reported a year ago. Citigroup reported total assets of $1.98 trillion at Sept. 30, up 2% from the second quarter. The company said third-quarter deposits climbed 4% sequentially to $850 billion driven by growth in international deposits. The bank maintains a Tier 1 Capital Ratio of 12.5%; Tier 1 Common Ratio of 10.3%, equaling $103.7 billion. The third-quarter allowance for loan losses was $43.7 billion. Write to Jason Philyaw.