Citigroup Q2 loss smaller than expected

NEW YORK: Citigroup Inc, the largest US bank, yesterday posted a smaller-than-expected, quarterly loss, despite some US$11.7 billion (US$1 = RM3.24) of write-downs and credit losses tied to deteriorating capital markets and the slumping economy.

The second-quarter net loss totalled US$2.5 billion, or 54 cents per share, and compared with a year-earlier profit of US$6.23 billion, or US$1.24 per share.

Citigroup's loss from continuing operations was US$2.22 billion, or 49 cents per share, while revenue declined 29 per cent to US$18.65 billion.

Analysts on average had expected a loss of 67 cents per share on revenue of US$17.44 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.

Citigroup has lost about US$17.4 billion in the last three quarters and incurred more than US$58 billion of write-downs and increased credit costs since the middle of 2007.

On Thursday, Merrill Lynch & Co, the world's biggest brokerage announced a wider-than-expected US$4.89 billion second-quarter loss and said it was selling assets - its stake in media company Bloomberg LP for US$4.4 billion and its Financial Data Services Inc subsidiary for $3.5 billion. - Reuters, AP