Citi chief has 617 billion reasons to worry

NEW YORK: Citigroup Inc Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit, emerging from a US bailout with higher capital levels and loan-loss reserves than any peer, still has a $617 billion reason to worry.

That's the amount of assets left in Citi Holdings, the division that Pandit (pictured above) set up to strip his bank of unprofitable businesses, troubled loans and securities. While the bank has unloaded almost $100 billion of the assets so far, getting stuck with the rest may hinder earnings for years, analysts said.

"I wouldn't say that all of their issues are completely behind them," said Bill Tanona, an analyst at Collins Stewart Inc in New York who rates Citigroup "hold". "We still have a soft economic environment and high unemployment, so losses are likely moving higher in the short term."