Show Entire Article
Citigroup Chief Executive Vikram Pandit told investors Thursday that the bank is on track to return to sustained profitability, and that losses from some of its worst assets should be manageable if the economy does not deteriorate.
The comments were uncharacteristically optimistic for Pandit. The bank's improving performance is easing pressure on the CEO, who has been criticized for being slow to recognize the seriousness of the financial crisis.
Citigroup shares [ AIG 36.09 
-0.19 (-0.52%) ] were up more than 3 percent on Pandit's comments, bringing their gains since the end of last week to 17 percent.
"Citi today is a fundamentally different company than it was two years ago," Pandit said, distancing himself from the bank's prior missteps. Citigroup has posted more than $100 billion of writedowns and credit losses since late 2007. The bank's shares have lost 90 percent of their value since late 2006.
Pandit said that Citigroup's main businesses are aiming to generate annual profit equal to between 1.25 percent and 1.50 percent of their assets, up from 1.15 percent last year, excluding some items.
Citigroup is also aiming to boost its overall asset level by about 5 percent a year. These projections apply to the $1.38 trillion of assets that Citigroup houses in its main Citicorp business and its corporate segment.
Page 1 of 2 | Next PageShow Entire Article
More Top Stories