Business News
Citigroup posts 7.6-billion-dollar loss
Jan 19, 2010, 16:08 GMT
New York - US banking giant Citigroup on Tuesday reported a 7.6-billion-dollar loss in the last three months of 2009 as it continues to feel the effects of the financial crisis while working to repay emergency government loans.
The loss came after three straight quarters of profits, though Citigroup Inc had posted a massive 17.3-billion dollar loss in the final quarter of 2008.
Citigroup, one of the worst hit by Wall Street's credit crisis, paid back 20 billion dollars in government loans in December in a bid to keep up with other major banks that have seen a more consistent turnaround.
Even with the repayment, President Barack Obama's administration remains Citigroup's largest shareholder with a 27-per-cent stake. The US loaned the New York-based bank a total of 45 billion dollars.
Citigroup's stock dropped more than 2 per cent as trading opened on Wall Street, dragging down other financials.
Chief executive Vikram Pandit sought to put a positive spin on the quarterly report, saying, We have made enormous progress in 2009.'
Rival JPMorgan Chase by contrast recorded a 3.3-billion-dollar profit in the final quarter of 2009, quadrupling its earnings from a year earlier.
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