Vikram Pandit buys Citi stock worth $8.4 m

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Nov 14: Citigroup Inc CEO Vikram Pandit and three deputies bought a total of 1.3 million shares in the US bank on Thursday in a show of confidence after the stock fell below $9 for the first time in 12 years.

Pandit, 51, bought 750,000 common shares, paying an average of about $9.25 apiece, Citigroup said in a filing with the US Securities & Exchange Commission. He also bought 100,000 preferred shares. In all, he spent about $8.4 million.

John Havens, 52, head of the New York-based bank’s trading & investment-banking division, bought 250,000 shares, a person with knowledge of the matter said. Trading chief James Forese, 45, bought 200,000 and chief risk officer Brian Leach bought 100,000, according to the person, who declined to be identified because the company hasn’t disclosed the purchases.

Citigroup, the fourth-biggest US bank by market value, has tumbled 16% this week in New York trading and is down almost 70% this year, after four straight quarterly losses totalling $20 billion. The company’s board on Thursday was forced to issue a statement in support of chairman Win Bischoff after reports that some directors were frustrated by the company’s performance and considering replacing him.

Citigroup may report a fourth-quarter loss of $2.85 billion, Oppenheimer & Co analyst Meredith Whitney estimated in an October 21 report to clients. The mounting losses have led Citigroup to slash jobs. The company started notifying staff members last week who are affected by the bank’s plan to eliminate 9,100 positions over the next 12 months, or about 2.6% of its headcount.

Job reductions may accelerate with the goal of lowering the global headcount to about 290,000 from 352,000 at the end of September, the Journal reported earlier on Friday, citing an unidentified person familiar with the matter.