$2.5bn setback 'relief' for Citigroup investors.NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of : Citigroup, the largest US bank, posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss yesterday despite $11.7 billion of write-downs and credit losses tied to deteriorating capital markets and the slumping economy. The second-quarter net loss totalled $2.5bn, or 54 cents per share Cents per share The amount of a mutual fund's dividend or capital gains distributions that a shareholder will receive for each share owned. , and compared with last year's profit of $6.23bn, or $1.24 per share. Shares rose 9.1 per cent to $19.60 in pre-market trading. "It appears the worst may be over in the subprime mess," said Princeton Financial Group president Andre Bakhos. "There appears to be a bandage on the wound." Citigroup's loss from continuing operations continuing operations Parts of a business that are expected to be maintained as an ongoing segment of an overall business operation. Income and losses from continuing operations are reported separately if any segments have been discontinued during the was $2.22bn, or 49 cents per share, while revenue declined 29pc to $18.65bn. Analysts on average expected a loss of 67 cents per share on revenue of $17.44bn, Reuters estimates said. The report followed surprisingly strong profits this week from JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM TYO: 8634 ) is one of the oldest financial services firms in the world. The company, headquartered in New York City, is one of the leaders in investment banking, financial services, asset and wealth management and private equity. With assets of $1. & Company and Wells Fargo Wells Fargo armored carriers of bullion. [Am. Hist.: Brewer Dictionary, 1147] See : Protectiveness Wells Fargo company that handled express service to western states; often robbed. [Am. Hist. & Company, and a much larger-than-expected $4.9bn quarterly loss at Merrill Lynch & Company. Citigroup eliminated 6,000 jobs during the quarter, and about 11,000 from January to last month. It aims to keep cutting jobs at a similar rate, as chief executive Vikram Pandit tries to slash $15bn of costs within two to three years. "While there is still much to do, we are encouraged by our progress," Pandit pan·dit or pun·dit n. 1. A Brahman scholar or learned man. 2. Used as a title of respect for a learned man in India. [Hindi pa said. Pandit has tried to focus on stronger businesses and cull cull the act of culling. Called also cast. $400bn of risky or poorly performing assets after years of poor expense and risk management left the New York-based bank bearing the full brunt of the global credit crisis. Citigroup has lost about $17.4bn in the last three quarters and incurred more than $58bn of write-downs and increased credit costs since the middle last year. "Pandit seems to be doing the right things and is starting to build a base," said Aerion Fund Management senior portfolio manager Jonathan Monk. Citigroup's securities and banking unit took $7.2bn of write-downs. This included $3.5bn tied to subprime mortgages and $2.4bn related to bond insurers, and smaller losses tied to commercial real estate, leveraged finance and "Alt-A" mortgages. The bank also increased credit costs by $4.5bn, mainly for its US consumer banking and global credit card businesses. "Citi is exposed to every aspect of the economy," said Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel analyst Matt McCormick. "There could be more consumer delinquencies, particularly in credit cards. It's not like the movies where all of a sudden you say, 'And they all lived happily ever after The term happily ever after is used in association with many works of children’s fiction and romantic fiction. It describes a happy ending, often a cliché in which all the good characters have emerged victorious and all the evil characters have been punished. .'" Pandit has cut Citigroup's dividend and raised more than $40bn of capital. This has helped boost the bank's Tier-1 capital ratio, which measures its ability to cover losses, to about 8.7pc from 7.12pc at year end. Copyright A[umlaut umlaut (  m`lout) [Ger.,=transformed sound], in inflection, variation of vowels of the type of English man to men. ] 2008 Gulf Daily News
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