Citigroup Inc., the world's largest financial services company, on Monday said it will cut about 1,400 jobs in its corporate and investment bank in early 2005, and take a related $275 million pretax charge in the first quarter.
The cuts amount to 3 percent of the unit's roughly 48,000 employees. Citigroup had been expected to eliminate 2 percent to 3 percent of the unit's staff, with cuts at all levels, a person familiar with the matter said earlier in February.
Chief Executive Charles Prince is trying to cut costs in the investment bank, where expenses have recently risen faster than revenue. In the fourth quarter, non-interest expense rose 25 percent to $3.3 billion, including a 48 percent jump in compensation and benefits, while revenue rose just 15 percent.
Citigroup disclosed the job cuts and charge in its annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
