Citigroup (C) Earnings: Still Sweating

Citigroup (C) is still struggling. The bank reported a net loss for Q3 2008 third of $2.8 billion, or $.60 per. Total assets declined by $50 billion since second quarter 2008 and by $308 billion since third quarter 2007.

Revenue dropped 23% to $16.7 billion. In the Institutional Clients Group, Securities and Banking revenues were negative $81 million, due to substantial write-downs and losses related to the credit markets.

Citigroup had net write-downs of $394 million on sub-prime related direct exposures. These exposures on June 30, 2008, were comprised of approximately $4.3 billion of gross lending and structuring exposures and approximately $18.1 billion of net ABS CDO super senior exposures. On September 30, 2008, these exposures were comprised of approximately $3.3 billion of gross lending and structuring exposures and approximately $16.3 billion of net ABS CDO super senior exposures.

While our third quarter results reflect both a difficult environment as well as continued write-downs on our legacy assets, we are making excellent progress on the parts of our business we control, including expense reduction, headcount, and balance sheet and capital management. We expect these improvements will enable us to realize the full earnings power of our franchise as the economy stabilizes,” said Vikram Pandit, Chief Executive Officer of Citi.

The economy may not stabalize for a long time.

Citi shares were up slightly in pre-market trading

Douglas A. McIntyre