Citigroup may cut thousands of jobs

Citigroup may cut thousands of jobs: report

Citigroup Inc (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the largest U.S. bank, may eliminate 17,000 to 24,000 jobs and write off as much as $24 billion for subprime and other credit losses, as part of a plan to cut costs and add capital, CNBC television said on Monday.

The write-down and job cuts may be announced on Tuesday, CNBC said, when Citigroup is widely expected to report the largest quarterly loss in its history.

Analysts on average expect the loss to be about $5 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.

Citigroup may also reduce its 54 cents per share quarterly dividend, which equates to a 7.6 percent dividend yield. It may also raise billions of dollars of new capital from various entities, including from its largest individual shareholder, Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, published reports said. The bank sold a $7.5 billion stake to Abu Dhabi's government in November.

Citigroup was not immediately available for comment.

The bank said in November it would write down $8 billion to $11 billion for losses from collateralized debt obligations tied to subprime mortgages. The CDO market has since deteriorated further, and several rivals have announced large CDO-related losses.

Further job cuts at Citigroup might take place over the next year, CNBC said. They would be on top of 17,000 cuts announced in April, when Citigroup employed about 327,000 people.

REUTERS