Citigroup profit to take $3.8b hit on charges, reserves

WASHINGTON, Jan 11 (Reuters): Citigroup booked about $3.8 billion in combined charges and reserves that will erode its fourth-quarter earnings set to be reported on Friday, according to a filing.
The bank stockpiled $1.3 billion in reserves to cover risks outside the US, particularly currency exposure in Argentina and Russia, it said on Wednesday.
It booked $780 million in restructuring charges including severance pay for employees, related to the lender's own sweeping reorganisation.
The company recorded a charge of about $1.7 billion to replenish a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp fund that was drained after the collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.
"While we rarely provide information about the results of the quarter in advance of scheduled earnings announcement dates, we thought this was a prudent step in our commitment to building credibility and being transparent," Mark Mason, Citi's finance chief, wrote in a separate statement. "The items we disclosed today do not change our strategy."
The $720 million reserve for Argentina was set aside to cover risks "based on prevailing economic trends, currency devaluation and geopolitical risk that may impact Argentina's ability to sustain external debt service," Citi said in the filing.