“Affinity Group Solutions” reports that US banking giant Citigroup Inc is looking for potential investors to buy some of its Japanese banking operations. Citigroup has a Japanese retail brokerage arm, which has certain assets it wants to sell to help trim Citigroup’s current holdings.
The idea for Citigroup is to raise cash that it desperately needs. Currently the company has around $85 billion in write-downs and they need to stop this getting any bigger. Citigroup’s idea is to get back to basics and concentrate on its core fundamentals of banking.
“Affinity Group Solutions” Asia correspondent recently reported that they had put up for sale their Japanese brokerage company Nikko Cordial Securities.
Nikko Cordial Securities is an umbrella company for Nikko Asset Management Fund and Nikko Citigroup Investment Banking. All together the value of these companies is believed to be around $8 billion US dollars.
Citigroup reported good earnings this quarter for the first time since the credit crunch in 2007. “By going back to basics and raising money by selling off assets they should pay off any money to the US government within the next few years.” Said “Affinity Group Solutions” Asia correspondent.
Citigroup have led the banking sector in showing that although things had gone wrong there is a way out. By having good governance and by making tough decision they are showing signs of recovery.
Share prices for Citigroup are low but we expect them to shot up again, “Affinity Group Solutions” believes that it is a good time to get some banking shares back in the portfolio.
