Citigroup posted a fourth-quarter loss of $7.6 billion after taking charges linked to repaying US government funds.
The third-largest US bank said the loss amounted to 33 cents a share, compared with a loss of $17.3 billion, or $3.40 a share, in the same quarter a year earlier.
The loss matched analysts' average estimate. Citigroup shares were unchanged in premarket trading at $3.42. The bank set aside $8.2 billion in the quarter to cover bad loans and other losses, down 36 percent from a year earlier.
Citigroup’s Irish-based business, Citi Ireland, is one of the largest foreign employers in the Republic with over 2,000 staff in Dublin and Waterford.
Citigroup is the second major US bank to report fourth-quarter results. JPMorgan Chase & Co posted a quarterly profit of $3.3 billion last week, helped by rising fixed-income trading revenue, but suffered deep losses on US mortgage and credit card loans, which disappointed many investors.
Citigroup has been struggling to return to profitability in its main lending businesses after posting more than $100 billion of credit losses and writedowns.
Although the bank posted a profit for 2009, $6.7 billion came from selling a controlling stake in its Smith Barney business.
Citigroup shares fell more than 50 per cent in 2009, while the KBW Bank index, a broader measure of banks, fell 3.6 per cent.
Reuters
