Citigroup still bullish over RP

Despite news that Citigroup will lay-off thousands of jobs in its global operations, Citibank Philippines (Citi) is looking to open nearly a thousand jobs as it will double if not triple its work force in the next few years.

It is considering making the Philippines its regional hub for business process outsourcing (BPO), a move started by other global financial institutions operating here.

Citi country business manager Mark Jones expects the Philippines to benefit from restructuring moves with its attractive labor costs and highly skilled workers, as it repositions across Asia Pacific.

“Even before the downtrend in global financial markets, we have been reviewing our operations to see where we can be more efficient. We expect the Philippines to be a preferred location for regional hubs of Citi operations or centers of excellence,” Jones said. “Instead of reducing head count, we are optimistic we are growing in the Philippines.”

The Philippines remains to be among the more attractive location sites for multinational corporations, and Citigroup is no exception. The realization has all the more been magnified with the financial crisis.

The United States has reportedly entered into the recession stage while parts of Europe are already in the early stages of recession. Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan have already admitted their economies were in a recession.

However, the Philippines is expected to report a lower growth rate of between three to four percent. But negative growth is not in sight.

Meanwhile, Citi has big plans for its credit card business and its thrift banking operations in the next few years.

In the past three quarters of 2008 alone, Citi launched four new credit card products, each setting a new benchmark in the industry. It is the leader in credit cards, in terms of cards issued, sales as well as receivables.

Thrift banking arm Citibank Savings is also positioning for growth, having started to offer a complete suite of financial products on top of deposits and investments. It refers insurance solutions to clients, as well as offer loan products for individuals and very soon to small and medium-sized companies.

Citi Retail Banking director Agustin Davalos said that they are transforming Citibank Savings branches into one-stop shop financial centers to serve the financial needs of the affluent market, as well as investing in technology to improve access including internet banking. It is also set to launch a number of deposit products designed to address clients’ unique needs.

Last week, Citigroup announced that it was shedding 52,000 of its 352,000 jobs by early 2009, as well as to move tens of billions of dollars in troubled securities onto its balance sheet.

Days later, Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said he planned to increase his stake in Citigroup to five percent from less than four percent. The bank’s largest individual investor called Citigroup’s shares “dramatically undervalued.”– Ted Torres