April 19, 2008	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 12, 1429

NEW YORK, April 18: US banking giant Citigroup reported on Friday a first-quarter net loss of $5.1 billion, hurt by at least $12 billion in write-downs amid soured subprime investments, and said it would cut an additional 9,000 jobs.

Earnings per share were a negative $1.02, seven cents steeper than the loss that most analysts’ forecast.

It was the second consecutive quarterly loss for the banking titan, hammered by the subprime, or high-risk, mortgage crisis stemming from the worst US housing slump in decades and signs of recession in the world’s biggest economy.—AFP