Citigroup plans more branches in India as job cuts loom

Mumbai: Citigroup Inc said it is planning to open more branches and increase its work force in India amidst reports that the US banking giant is planning to cut over 26,000 jobs worldwide as part of its efforts to improve profitability.

Charles O. Prince III, chairman and CEO of the New York-based bank, who is under pressure from investors to improve profitability at the bank, is expected to either lay off or reassign more than 26,000 jobs to streamline the bank's unwieldy global operations.

Citigroup is expected to shed 10,000 to 12,000 jobs this year, according to people close to the developments. Some 14,000 additional positions will be lost to attrition or relocated from high-cost locations - including London, Hong Kong and New York, where the company is based - to less expensive areas like India, Buffalo, Cincinnati and northern New Jersey.

Prince, however, predicted job growth in India despite reports indicating that the bank might cut thousands of jobs in the United States. He declined to comment on newspaper reports that Citigroup was planning to cut jobs to improve profitability.

He said the goal was to increase the share of international business in Citigroup's total revenue to 60 per cent from its current 45 per cent. "I would expect our international business to grow faster than some of our other businesses, but we don't target one business for another to grow more or less," he said.