A man is reflected in the Citibank logo in Tokyo November 5, 2007.

Steven Freiberg, the current co-head of consumer banking, will run the card unit, the New York-based company said yesterday. The rest of the consumer group, mainly bank branches and non-bank lending, will be led by regional heads.

Vikram Pandit, who succeeded Charles Prince as Citigroup Chief Executive Officer in December, is reshuffling management after the company lost more than half its market value in five months. The consumer chiefs will all report to Pandit as he bids to halt a profit decline for a unit that contributes 70 percent of revenue and was previously run by just two people, Freiberg and Ajay Banga.

"One should be supportive of major changes when past performance has been disappointing," said Guy De Blonay, a director at New Star Asset Management Group Plc in London who helps manage $1.2 billion in financial stocks. "In being quite aggressive in removing people and getting in fresh blood, hopefully they can turn around the story."

Citigroup had a net loss of almost $10 billion in the fourth quarter because of subprime-mortgage writedowns at its trading business.

Pandit is reducing loans and securities to shrink the bank's $2.2 trillion of assets, and has slashed more than 6,000 jobs.

Citigroup has tumbled 29 percent this year in New York trading to $20.83 as of March 28 amid more than $20 billion of writedowns and loan losses.

Agencies

(China Daily 04/01/2008 page16)