Citigroup set to cut 75,000 jobs

[loki]

US bank Citigroup has announced plans for up to 75,000 job cuts, up from a previously announced total of 23,000.

Citigroup said in a statement the cuts represented a reduction of about 20% of its staff, leaving it with 300,000 jobs worldwide "in the near term".

The cuts will come from redundancies, the sale of units and natural wastage, the bank said.

Citigroup has lost more than $20bn (£13.6bn) in the past year because of the global financial crisis.

It has posted four straight quarterly losses and some analysts believe the bank will not make a profit again until 2010.

Turnaround plan


Certainly [the job cuts] will fall particularly heavily on London and New York
Win Bischoff, Citigroup chairman

"Underlying business remains strong and revenues have been stable," the bank said.

Citigroup also said its capital position was "very strong".

The bank expects its expenses to be down 20% from peak levels, to about $50bn in 2009, after the job cuts have taken effect.

"Certainly [the job cuts] will fall particularly heavily on London and New York," Citigroup chairman Win Bischoff said at a business forum in Dubai.

Citigroup's chief executive Vikram Pandit has come under pressure from critics who have doubted his ability to turn around the company and weather the financial crisis.

Last week, shares in Citigroup dropped below the $10 mark. They are down almost 70% this year.

Citigroup, one of the largest US banks, is one of nine financial institutions benefiting from the US government's bail-out programme.

The Treasury announced last month that it would be providing cash injections worth $125bn to be shared between Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, Bank of New York Mellon, State Street and Merrill Lynch.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7733575.stm