CITIGROUP is in good shape after a year of 'getting fit', said chief financial officer (CFO) John Gerspach, who was in Singapore this week.

He said the banking giant has beefed up its balance sheet and is ready to regroup after a year of intensive care.

New York-based Mr Gerspach told The Straits Times that Citi was among the best capitalised banks in the world.

'We made a lot of progress in 2009 getting Citi fit,' he said.

'Last year, we did a number of capital raising activities, specifically in the third quarter, when we converted US$58 billion (S$82 billion) of our preferred shareholders' equity into common equity and then in December, we raised an additional US$20.5 billion of common equity.'

After repaying about US$20 billion to the United States government under the Troubled Asset Relief Programme and other schemes, Citi's tier one capital ratio at the end of the fourth quarter of last year stood at 11.7 per cent.

Tier one common equity in the same period was US$104.6 billion compared with US$22.9 billion in December 2008.

Mr Gerspach said the bank's liquidity base has also been strengthened: At the end of the fourth quarter, Citi had US$192.9 billion in cash deposits on its balance sheet.

'We've got the capital, we've got the reserves, we've got the liquidity. So, I think we're pretty well-positioned,' he said.

He was here as part of a trip to visit Citi's Asian franchises.

'It's so much more different to come out here and feel the buzz,' said Mr Gerspach, making his first trip to Singapore since being appointed CFO last July.

Last year, Asia contributed about US$4.5 billion to Citigroup's net income.

In the fourth quarter, Asia and Latin America combined to contribute about 85 per cent of income at Citicorp - the customer-centric unit that holds the Asian and Latin American franchises.

Citicorp, which remained profitable through the financial crisis, generated about US$14.8 billion of net income last year, said Mr Gerspach.

'We are definitely looking for most of the growth in Citicorp over the next couple of years to come from the developing markets,' he said.

'These are markets, at least in Asia and Latin America, where we can already see some signs that the economies have turned.

'Those are also the geographies where we have already begun to make new investments, whether it be in growing the number of branches we have, investing in customer acquisition and trying to encourage additional purchasing activity on our cards.'

He added that while cost reduction would continue to be part of Citi's strategy, the mass layoffs are over. It will now focus on organic growth and a specific customer group in all its global markets.

'The type of customer we're looking to service is one that is emerging affluent, probably urban-located, and has a global mindset.

'You need to have a certain number of branches... but these customers are, for the most part, tech savvy, a lot of whom we will be able to serve over the Internet without building an excessive number of branches.'

Mr Gerspach, who last visited here eight years ago, said Singapore will remain a key part of Citi's Asia franchise: 'To borrow a boxing term, Singapore definitely punches above its weight.'

franchan@sph.com.sg

'The type of customer we're looking to service is one that is emerging affluent, probably urban-located, and has a global mindset.'

Mr Gerspach