NEW YORK(AP)
Citigroup Inc.'s new chief executive, Vikram Pandit, plans
to stick with a global banking model after months of intense review
_ but only after shrinking the company by about one-fifth
first.
The three-year game plan, revealed Friday, includes getting rid
of more businesses, mortgages, real-estate operations and jobs.
The bank aims to shed between $400 billion and $500 billion of
its $2.2 trillion in assets and grow revenue by 9 percent over the
next few years as it tries to rebound from massive losses tied to
deterioration in the credit markets.
The $500 billion in so-called "legacy assets" the bank
intends to sell off or allow to mature include yet-to-be-named
noncore businesses, as well as assets in Citigroup's securities
and consumer banking segments. That includes mortgages and other
real estate-related holdings.
Meanwhile, the anticipated rise in revenue will derive largely
from cutting costs _ which Chief Financial Officer Gary Crittenden
said will mean more job reductions. Citi has so far lowered its
headcount by 13,200 since last summer.
The moves could mean the bank loses its standing as the
nation's largest if it doesn't grow other assets
simultaneously. According to their most recent regulatory filings,
Bank of America Corp. has $1.74 trillion in total assets, while
JPMorgan Chase & Co. has $1.64 trillion.
The investor presentation Friday did not come as a huge
surprise. Citigroup has already begun its winding-down process by
writing down about $38 billion in soured debt since last summer,
and setting plans to reduce its residential mortgage assets by $45
billion over the coming year. It has also sold businesses including
CitiCapital, CitiStreet and Diners Club.
These moves arrived on top of huge stock sales to outside
investors, including government funds in Singapore and the United
Arab Emirates.
Roger Lister, chief credit officer for U.S. financial
institutions at the bond rating company DBRS, said Citi should be
able to find buyers for its assets, as most are not particularly
risky, and instead are simply low revenue generators for the
bank.
"The plan makes sense _ in some ways, it's the easy
part," Lister said.
While others agreed that Citi had to sell assets, not everyone
was certain how easy such a sale would be.
"I'm not sure they have half a trillion in good assets
that someone wants to buy. But they're doing the obvious _ they
have no choice," said R. Christopher Whalen, managing director
of consulting firm Institutional Risk Analytics.
Either way, whether Pandit's plan proves successful will
determine his legacy as a turnaround specialist for a company that
many claim was struggling long before the housing market
collapse.
Pandit joined Citigroup in July 2007, when it bought his hedge
fund Old Lane. The board fast-tracked him to the CEO spot in
December, five weeks after former CEO Charles Prince was forced out
following the bank's dismal performance during the third
quarter.
"This is going to be a difficult environment to judge
success," said Lister, who worked at Citigroup during the late
1980s and early 1990s. "He has done what I think one would
have expected of a dynamic, experienced business leader ...
It's the execution that's going to be the
challenge."
Citigroup has been under heavy investor scrutiny over the past
year as the value of its stock tumbled. Many Citigroup holders have
been angling for a large-scale overhaul of the company's
structure. Those shareholders' hopes have dwindled, with
executives saying they intend to keep the bank's major parts
intact.
"We believe the right model is a global universal
bank," Pandit said.
But Citigroup executives did point out several shortcomings at
the bank that need to be fixed, including organizational
redundancies, a fractured corporate culture and waning market share
in U.S. retail banking. And the company introduced a new slogan as
part of its revamping efforts: "Citi never sleeps."
But the road to recovery is going to be a difficult one.
Most analysts believe that while the bulk of the bank's
write-downs are through, there are still at least some more to
come. In a note Thursday, Deutsche Bank analyst Mike Mayo estimated
that Citigroup's $29 billion bucket of mortgage investments and
related structured products has the potential to result in another
$15 billion write-down.
And given that Citigroup has $63 billion in exposure to home
equity loans, $150 billion to mortgages, $21 billion to auto loans,
and exposure to other loans such as credit cards, Mayo estimated
that the bank will have to build up its reserves by an additional
$5 billion as the U.S. consumer credit climate deteriorates.
Citigroup shares slipped 67 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $23.63
Friday. The stock is down about 18 percent in 2008 and 55 percent
over the last 12 months.
___
AP Business Writer Stephen Bernard in New York contributed to
this report.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.