Citigroup Reports $8.29 Billion Loss, Will Split Up

Citigroup Inc. posted an $8.29 billion fourth-quarter loss, completing its worst year, as the credit crisis eroded mortgage-bond prices and customers missed more loan payments.

The net loss of $1.72 a share compared with a loss of $9.8 billion, or $1.99, a year earlier, the New York-based company said in a statement today. The results included a $3.9 billion gain from the sale of a German consumer bank. Analysts, excluding the gain, estimated the company would report a loss of $1.08 a share, according to a survey by Bloomberg.

As Citigroup plunged 77 percent last year in New York trading, the bank was forced to accept $45 billion of U.S. government rescue funds. Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit agreed this week to cede control of the Smith Barney brokerage to Morgan Stanley. He also said today he plans to sell the CitiFinancial consumer-lending unit and Tokyo-based Nikko Asset Management Co..

Citigroup Inc (C.N) on Friday unveiled a broad restructuring plan designed to shed weaker businesses and troubled assets, and also reported an $8.29 billion fourth-quarter loss, its fifth straight quarterly loss.

The loss equaled $8.29 billion, or $1.72 per share, and compared with a loss of $9.8 billion, or $1.99 cents.

Citigroup said it is splitting into two operating units, one of which will focus on universal banking, the other of which will focus on brokerage and retail asset management, local consumer finance, and a pool of assets that require special management.