Saudi Alwaleed praises Citi results, backs Pandit

Saudi Alwaleed praises Citi results, backs Pandit

Citigroup earlier on Tuesday posted fourth-quarter profit below expectations even as loan losses eased at the No. 3 U.S. bank.

January 19, 2011 10:17 by Reuters

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a prominent Saudi investor in Citigroup Inc , reiterated on Tuesday his support for the U.S. bank and said he was pleased with its 2010 results and recent share price rise. Alwaleed, the nephew of Saudi King Abdullah, is a major Citi shareholder through his 95 percent ownership of Kingdom Holding Co .

The prince congratulated Citigroup Chief Executive Vikram Pandit by phone on the bank’s net profit of $10.6 billion in 2010, Kingdom Holding said in a statement. During a separate recent meeting in New York, “the Prince re-affirmed his support of Mr. Pandit and Citigroup’s management,” it said.

Citigroup earlier on Tuesday posted fourth-quarter profit below expectations even as loan losses eased at the No. 3 U.S. bank.

(Reporting by Ulf Laessing; Editing by David Holmes)