Citigroup posts another loss, but beats expectations

NEW YORK -- The bank said Thursday that it lost $2.8 billion, or 60 cents a share, in the third quarter compared with a profit of $2.2 billion, or 44 cents a share, a year ago. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a loss of 70 cents per share.

Citi wrote down $4.4 billion in investments, recorded $4.9 billion in credit losses, and took a $3.9 billion charge to boost reserves.

The big four U.S. banks — Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo — are each slated to receive a $25 billion investment from the government. Citi recently lost a bid for Wachovia to banking rival Wells Fargo.