Shares in Citigroup dropped to their lowest level since the US bank was created by former chief executive Sandy Weill in 1998.
In New York, the bank’s stock fell a further 43 cents to $14.79 – leading one analyst to speculate that the bank had grown “too big”. Citi has been one of the firms worst-hit by the ongoing credit crunch, and has written off around $40 billion of underperforming assets.
New chief executive Vikram Pandit indicated earlier this year that the bank will look to sell on a further $300 billion of assets in a bid to “get fit”.
“The company has destroyed a lot of wealth, but Sandy Weill had a lot to do with that,” says William Fitzpatrick at optique capital management. “He’s the one who built this big monster. Clearly the company was too big.”
Citigroup began trading a decade ago, following a $36 billion merger between Travelers Group and Citicorp.