INSTANT VIEW: Reaction to Citigroup results
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc (C.N), the largest U.S. bank, on Friday posted its second straight quarterly loss, hurt by debt writedowns and mounting credit losses.
The loss totaled $5.11 billion, or $1.02 per share, and compared with a profit of $5.01 billion, or $1.01 per share, a year earlier.
The loss was wider than the 96 cents a share forecast by analysts polled by Reuters Estimates.
The following is reaction from industry analysts and other experts:
DAVID BUIK OF CANTOR INDEX, LONDON
"Vikram Pandit was always going to shake the trees and get every skeleton out of the cupboard imaginable, which is what he's done. Commentators and analysts love to see blood running down Canary Wharf and Broadway and that being the case, there are undoubtedly going to be substantial redundancies over the course of the next two years. The fact that remedial action is being taken, investors love that."
ANDREA WILLIAMS, HEAD OF EUROPEAN EQUITIES, ROYAL LONDON
ASSET MANAGEMENT, LONDON
"It's meeting expectations. We've just seen a huge figure that they've written off and have got a bit blase about these things now but it looks in line. The market is shrugging it off. We knew there were going to be write-offs and (Citi) hasn't yet said anything far too negative."
ARTHUR HOGAN, CHIEF MARKET ANALYST, JEFFERIES & CO. IN
BOSTON
"The good news for Citi and Merrill and everybody in financials that's had a well-known exposure to subprime, this is the quarter they get to clear the decks. Vikram Pandit is coming in and making pretty big changes and that's what he gets to do. It's a cathartic quarter. It's truly the quarter with new leadership, especially at Merrill and Citi, where you get to literally throw everything but the kitchen sink into the quarter and it will be well received by Wall Street.
JUSTIN URQUHART STEWART, DIRECTOR AT 7 INVESTMENT
MANAGEMENT, LONDON
"That's not bad at all, compared with what we were expecting. London is up 1 percent now and I would expect New York to open up. We are moving into a phase now where the banks are identifying the quantum of the losses. The reason the Royal Bank of Scotland will be looking to increase their cushion of support, is that they know they can only come to the well once to draw water. If banks can draw a line under this then you're ok."
MARK FOULDS, HEAD OF EQUITY SALES AT TRADINDEX, LONDON
"First quarter revenue was better than anticipated. It clearly is quite good. Generally, (the result) is regarded as better than expected. The writedown was $6 billion which wasn't too bad .... for the markets it's quite good news. All markets are bouncing on the back of it."
(Reporting by Dominic Lau, Amanda Cooper and Michael Taylor in London and Jennifer Coogan in New York)
