Sort of in the black

15 September 2009 By Robert Cyran Follow @rob_cyran

With its $45bn injection now worth $53bn the US is naturally thinking about crystallising gains. But liquidating such a huge overhang would hammer Citi shares. And anyway it’s still on a big hook with the bank s balance sheet.

This content is for Subscribers only

Context News

Citigroup is considering issuing up to $5bn worth of new stock in coordination with a share sale by the US government, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The US holds $27bn of preferred stock and 7.7bn shares of common stock in the bank. At current prices, the government's equity stake is worth $32bn. It has not decided how much it will sell, the paper wrote without citing sources.

The government injected $45bn into Citigroup under the Troubled Asset Relief Programme and received an additional $7bn of preferred stock when it agreed to guarantee a large pool of the bank's assets.

Citigroup has 22.9bn shares outstanding.

Email a friend

Please complete the form below.

Required fields *