New York - Citigroup chief executive Vikram Pandit on Friday denied reports that the finance giant was considering selling off large parts of its business. Speaking in an internal conference call after the Wall Street Journal and others had reported on a possible breakup, Pandit said the firm had enough capital and that there were no plans to sell units, including the Smith Barney brokerage unit, Bloomberg financial news reported citing unnamed sources who listed to the call.
Citigroup's board was to meet later Friday.
The bank is among the biggest losers in the global financial crisis and has experienced four quarters of losses that amount to more than 20 billion dollars. Citigroup has cut more than 75,000 jobs, including 50,000 positions that were chopped just this Monday.
Citigroup shares fell 26 per cent in trading on Thursday to 4.71 dollars per share and had fallen 50 per cent since the beginning of the week and nearly two-thirds since the beginning of November. Investors appeared to react positively to speculation about a sale and shares were up on European markets and in early Wall Street trading.
Talks about a possible sale were still in the early phases, and possible partners included Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier Friday.
Saudi Prince al-Walid bin Talal had said on Thursday he would increase his stake in the bank to 5 per cent.
