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| Markets cheer Citigroup earnings | Markets cheer Citigroup earnings |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Common shareholders in US banking giant Citigroup suffered a near $1bn (£670m) loss in the first three months of 2009. | Common shareholders in US banking giant Citigroup suffered a near $1bn (£670m) loss in the first three months of 2009. |
| But the loss had resulted from a pre-arranged $2.7bn dividend payment to preferred shareholders, and a $7.3bn credit loss from bad loans. | But the loss had resulted from a pre-arranged $2.7bn dividend payment to preferred shareholders, and a $7.3bn credit loss from bad loans. |
| Before these payments were made, the bank had clocked up a net profit of $1.6bn and revenues of $24.8bn. | |
| "We had our best overall quarter since the second quarter of 2007," chief executive Vikram Pandit said. | "We had our best overall quarter since the second quarter of 2007," chief executive Vikram Pandit said. |
| Citi's results came hot on the heels of positive earnings reports from Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan. | |
| "Of course the fact that all of these have had such a strong first quarter has led to some tentative hopes that perhaps the banking sector crisis is bottoming," said Richard Hunter, head of UK equities at Hargreaves Landsdown. | |
| Challenges remain | |
| The US Treasury holds a 40% stake in Citigroup, which has received a $45bn government bail-out. | |
| Citigroup said it had cut the size of its workforce to 309,000 people from 374,000 at its peak. | Citigroup said it had cut the size of its workforce to 309,000 people from 374,000 at its peak. |
| "It was slightly better than anticipated, but we probably underestimated how much government support would be a wind at their back," said Michael Holland, founder, Holland & Co. | "It was slightly better than anticipated, but we probably underestimated how much government support would be a wind at their back," said Michael Holland, founder, Holland & Co. |
| But Citi's problems are not over yet, he added. | But Citi's problems are not over yet, he added. |
| "There's no doubt the challenges are still enormous for Citigroup." | "There's no doubt the challenges are still enormous for Citigroup." |