Citi profitable in first two months this year: report

Banking major Citigroup has been profitable in the first two months of this year and reaped revenue of over $19 billion, a media report said.

According to a report in Financial Times, Citi Chief Executive Vikram Pandit in an internal memo to the staff tried to allay fears over debt and its share price, which is hovering around $1.

The daily quoted Pandit as saying in the memo that "we were profitable through the first two months of 2009 and are having our best quarter-to-date performance since the third quarter of 2007".

Pandit added that in January and February -- two months in which investment banks did well because of a partial thawing of credit markets -- alone the bank generated revenues of $19 billion before markdowns, FT stated in a report published online.

Pandit has reiterated that a planned capital injection by the US government and other investors would strengthen its balance sheet.

The deal with the US government would turn the federal authorities into Citi's single largest shareholder with a stake of up to 36 per cent, it added.