Citibank Savings hikes capital to P4.7 billion to fund acquisitions

MANILA, Philippines - Citibank Savings Inc., the local thrift banking arm of Citigroup, has raised its authorized capital stock to P4.7 billion from P3 billion to fund its branch expansion.

Documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission show that out of the P1.7 billion increase in capitalization, P597.2 million has been subscribed by Citibank Overseas Investment Corp. and Yonder Investment Corp.

US financial giant Citigroup is beefing up the branch network of its thrift banking unit in the Philippines by adding 14 to the existing 22 outlets. The new branches are expected to be opened within the next four weeks, most of which are located in Metro Manila.

CitiSavings is the offshoot of Citigroup’s acquisition of Insular Savings Bank, the thrift banking arm of the Insular Life Group of Companies.        

Citigroup, on the other hand, was formed from one of the world’s largest mergers – banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomerate Travelers Group – on  April 7, 1998.

Citigroup has the world’s largest financial services network, spanning 140 countries with approximately 16,000 offices worldwide. The company employs approximately 300,000 staff around the world, and holds over 200 million customer accounts.

Through its two operating units, Citicorp and Citi Holdings, Citigroup provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage and wealth management.

Citigroup suffered huge losses during the global financial crisis in 2008 and was rescued in November 2008 in a massive bailout by the US government. In February 2009, Citigroup announced that the US government would be taking a 36 percent stake in the company by converting $25 billion in emergency aid into equity.

Since then, the 36-percent stake has been reduced to 27 percent after Citigroup sold $21 billion of its common shares and equity in the largest single share sale in US history , surpassing Bank of America’s $19-billion share sale one month prior.