Citigroup posts $7.6 bn loss in fourth quarter

Citigroup Inc, the US bank that is 27 per cent owned by the Treasury Department, ended a three- quarter profit streak with a $7.6 billion loss on costs to exit the government’s bailout program.

The fourth-quarter loss of 33 cents a share was narrower than the record loss of $17.3 billion, or $3.40 a share, a year earlier, New York-based Citigroup said today in a statement. The company was expected to lose 30 cents a share, the average estimate of 18 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit had to book an $8 billion pretax charge when he repaid $20 billion of bailout funds in December to avoid being left behind by rival banks that exited the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Taxpayers still own 7.7 billion Citigroup shares, and Pandit failed to restore the bank to profitability in his second full year in the top job.

“It’s been a tumultuous two years,” said William Fitzpatrick, a financial-industry analyst with Optique Capital Management, which oversees about $850 million. “They’re probably done capital-raising, and investors now want some visibility on what the earnings power is.”

Citigroup may spend most of 2010 recovering from the bailout, grappling with more loan losses and pushing to sell or wind down unwanted businesses with more than $600 billion of assets, or a third of the bank’s total.

The bank dropped 9 cents, or 2.6 per cent, to $3.33 in composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange at 9.43 am That compares with $34.77 on December 10, 2007, the last closing price before Pandit was named to the top post.

“We have made enormous progress in 2009,” Pandit said in the statement. “It was our responsibility to get our own house in order. We greatly improved Citi’s capital strength, reduced the size and scope of the company, and refocused our business strategy to take advantage of our unmatched global network.”

Citigroup’s loss contrasts with results at JPMorgan Chase & Co, which saw a quadrupled profit of $3.28 billion as investment-banking fees climbed.