Citigroup (C): Another 35,000 to be fired? Another big hit to the stock?


Vikram Pandi, the CEO of Citigroup (NYSE: C), does not seem to be good at very much, but he is starting to get the hang of firing people. According to Reuters, "Citigroup Inc. plans to shed about 10 percent of its global workforce, a person familiar with the matter said Friday."

Maybe Pandit is responding to pressure he is facing to keep his own job. Citi's shares are below $10 for the first time in over a decade and have fallen much more than those of the other major U.S. money center banks. Wall Street still fears another year of write-offs as the big financial firm faces trouble with its portfolio of consumer debt , heavy with credit card customers who are defaulting in greater numbers as the economy worsens.

Pandit's greatest sin may be that he has not done any deal to spread his risks, broaden the bank's businesses, and transform the company. Several of his peer companies have done deals like Bank of America's (NYSE: BAC) purchase of Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) which brings in more deposits and an investment banking and money management unit.

At this stage there is nothing Pandit can do. He has let the problems at the bank go too far. The economy is failing at too fast a rate. Citi's troubled balance sheet is almost certainly getting more troubled.

It is not a bad bet that Citi ends up the way AIG (NYSE: AIG) has. If so, investors could lose another 80% or 90% of their money.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.

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Last updated: February 13, 2012: 05:36 PM

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