Citigroup's Annual Meeting Blog
Citigroup's
(C) - Get Report
annual shareholder meeting is underway at the Hilton in midtown Manhattan.
The meeting is typically a lively affair. But unlike last year when
vented their anger to the board and management -- especially after Citigroup's stock fell below $1 a share in March 2009 at the worst of the crisis -- this year the tone should be vastly improved. On Monday Citigroup posted its first real
since late 2007, and despite a pullback late last week, the stock is up 47% year-to-date.
Citigroup has made marked improvements in the last 12 months by divesting businesses, reshaping its board, and returning TARP money in late December. Its recent IPO of
Primerica
was a rousing success, and as with the rest of the big banks, credit costs are getting better. The mood swing is such that CEO Vikram Pandit moved to
in the company's press release announcing its first-quarter profit of $4.4 billion, saying the company doesn't expect its performance "to follow an invariable trend-line upward." He'll likely provide more color on the company's outlook on Tuesday.
Last year more than 1,000 participants came to the event, and it's a good bet this year's meeting will see the same level of interest.
For interested readers,
contains a list of both management and shareholder proposals that will be sparking conversation at the meeting.
--Written by Laurie Kulikowski in New York.