Citigroup to sell, close some non-U.S. operations: report
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research) is selling or closing some retail branches and consumer finance operations in Asia, Europe and Latin America to focus on more profitable businesses, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
Spokesman Michael Hanretta declined to comment.
The largest U.S. bank is in talks to shed at least part of its Mexican consumer finance unit, which caters to borrowers with imperfect credit, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the situation. Last month, Chief Financial Officer Gary Crittenden said Mexico was one of a handful markets where the bank was closely monitoring credit exposure.
Citigroup also is trying to sell its CitiFinancial consumer finance unit in Japan, and may in the United Kingdom sell about 50 consumer finance branches, the newspaper said, without naming its sources. The bank cut back both operations last year.
Chief Executive Vikram Pandit is reviewing operations and staffing in an attempt to increase profitability, after suffering more than $30 billion of write-downs, credit and other losses in last year's second half.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel)
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