Citigroup hit by $7.6bn loss
CITIGROUP yesterday posted losses of $7.6bn (£4.6bn) in the final quarter of the year.
Losses for the whole of 2009 were $1.6bn compared with $27.6bn the year before. The fourth quarter results take into account a final government bailout repayment of $6.2bn.
After excluding one-off items, the bank recorded a $1.4bn loss in the last three months of 2009, drastically lower than the $17.3bn reported for the same quarter last year.
The New York-based investment bank reported a 55 per cent rise in revenues to $80.2bn.
The investment banking arm of the group announced profits from brokerage and asset management of $7.1bn, compared with a $764m loss a year ago. A cost-cutting drive has reduced annual costs by $13bn.
Loan losses were $7.1bn, up 16 per cent from a year earlier but down from $8bn in the third quarter.
The results came as the bank announced it will cut its global bonus pool by 20 per cent. The full-year compensation pool fell from $31bn in 2008 to $24.9bn.
In real terms, bonuses will decrease by just 5.2 per cent, as the firm’s global workforce shrank considerably in the last 12 months.