Reply #8: Citigroup may unveil $400 billion asset sales: sources [View All]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc (C.N), hard hit by the global credit crunch, is expected to present plans to sell roughly $400 billion of extraneous assets when it meets with investors and analysts on Friday, people familiar with the situation said.

Newly-installed Chief Executive Vikram Pandit, scrambling to slash Citi's costs and get past credit market problems, also intends to reaffirm his promise to cut annual expenses at the largest U.S. bank by roughly 20 percent, one of the sources told Reuters on Thursday.

Citigroup declined to comment.

The sales could amount to nearly 20 percent of Citi's current assets, and according to the Financial Times, which first reported the story on Thursday, would take place over several years.

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But concerns still remain about Citi. Its shares still trade at about their book value, while healthier banks' shares typically trade well above their book value.

Citi's "Tier 1" capital ratio -- a measure of the bank's capital strength -- is above 8.6 percent, based on March balance sheet figures and recent capital raising efforts.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080509/bs_nm/citigroup_dc