Meredith Whitney was not pulling punches in the 'exclusive interview' which she gave on Bloomberg television this morning.
Here is a video excerpt of her interview on BloombergTV today: Meredith Whitney on Bloomberg TV
Here is a story based on the interview which we watched with some delight at a Wall Street analyst 'telling it like it is.'
Citi's Pandit Faces `Impossible Feat,' Whitney Says
By Margaret Popper and Josh Fineman
May 12 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit faces an ``impossible feat'' in turning around the biggest U.S. bank as it faces ``seismic'' costs to restructure, Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Meredith Whitney said.
Citigroup will be forced to announce the sale of major businesses toward the end of this year or in early 2009, Whitney, who recommends investors sell the shares, said in a Bloomberg TV interview today. One of the units could be Banamex, the company's Mexican branch, she said.
Whitney, 38, correctly predicted on Oct. 31 that New York- based Citigroup would cut its dividend to shore up capital after mortgage-related writedowns. Pandit on May 9 outlined plans to sell $400 billion in assets at the bank, which has booked more than $40 billion of credit losses and writedowns since the subprime mortgage market collapsed last year.
``I think it's an impossible feat,'' Whitney said. ``They don't have the revenue power, they don't have the earnings power in so many of their businesses. Even Stephen Hawking could not pull this off,'' she said, referring to the British physicist.
Whitney said she expects Citigroup, which lost a record $10 billion in the fourth quarter, to post ``de minimis'' profits during the next three to five years. ("de minimis" is Latin for "jackshit"). She repeated her prediction that Pandit would be forced to lower the dividend again, and didn't give an estimate for restructuring costs. She estimated a loss this year of 45 cents a share.
Citigroup spokeswoman Christina Pretto declined to comment.
Share Performance
Shares of the company rose 3 cents to $23.66 at 11:41 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Citigroup had lost 20 percent this year before today.
Pandit's plan, which he presented at a Citigroup analyst and investor meeting, includes shedding $400 billion of assets during the next three years and cutting $15 billion in costs. He also forecast annual revenue growth of 9 percent.
``The presentation was glaringly light on actual mechanics, and run-rate earnings figures seemed to cherry pick revenue and credit scenarios from recent years,'' Whitney wrote in a note today. Pandit ``set no delivery date as far as execution,'' she wrote.
Citigroup's ``single greatest challenge'' is the company's ``antiquated and disparate systems and technology,'' Whitney wrote in the note. ``We think that not only will restructuring be almost prohibitively expensive for (Citigroup), but that this expense will come during a time when revenues will be under significant pressure.''
Pandit will spend at least three years trying to get Citigroup's systems to work together, Whitney said, pointing to integration efforts in recent years at Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.
``The credit outlooks and the loss assumptions for banks across the board are way too low,'' Whitney said in the interview. ``The outlook for earnings across the board is going to be much worse than people expect.''
To contact the reporters on this story: Josh Fineman in New York at jfineman@bloomberg.net; Margaret Popper in New York at mpopper1@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: May 12, 2008 11:58 EDT
