Citi's Jane Fraser tells employees to 'believe' while suggesting more job cuts

By Steve Gelsi

Fraser says 'major changes' will be completed this week but the bank may say goodbye to more workers.

Citigroup Inc.'s Chief Executive Jane Fraser warned more job cuts are coming as she vowed to continue the "major changes" at the bank that have already led to 5,000 jobs cut. But the CEO said that the firm is becoming stronger as a result.

"Believe," Frasier said in an internal message to employees published by The Wall Street Journal.

She warned that in the coming weeks, "this final phase of changes will affect the largest number of colleagues at any point during the reorganization."

Some employees will take on new responsibilities, while others will move to new teams, and "we will also say goodbye to more colleagues, which is always hard."

Citigroup (C) gained 0.5% in premarket trading Tuesday, and was up 18.5% in 2024. The stock has outpaced the S&P 500's SPX rise of 9.4% in 2024.

Citi already has said it's expecting to reduce as many as 20,000 jobs as part of a plan announced last year to focus on its core investment-banking practices.

"I recognize these past months have not been easy," Fraser said in an internal memo published by The Wall Street Journal. "I am proud of the resilience you have demonstrated in the face of so much change."

No successful organization remains static, she said.

The effort has thus far won kudos on Wall Street, with Citigroup drawing upgrades in recent weeks from Piper Sandler as well as CFRA.

"Though the turnaround will likely have some bumps along the way, we like [Fraser's] more targeted view of the company," analyst R. Scott Siefers said on Feb. 15 when he upgraded the stock to overweight from neutral.

Fraser said the bank has eliminated its "regional construct" and exited businesses in order to "put all our energy on our core strengths in services, markets, banking, wealth and U.S. Personal Banking."

Also read: Citigroup's stock wins another upgrade as analysts cheer turnaround plan

-Steve Gelsi

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03-26-24 0844ET

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