Financial service provider Citigroup today said its Asia operations suffered a loss of $371 million for the fourth quarter in 2008 and continued deterioration in the Indian markets pushed credit costs higher.
Out of the total loss of $8.29 billion incurred by the financial services major in the December quarter, the Asian operations saw a loss of $371 million, while the North American region witnessed a whopping loss of $11 billion.
The Asian operations posted a 63 per cent decline in revenues at $1.98 billion for the fourth quarter last year as compared with $5.29 billion in the year-ago period.
The banking major's credit costs increased 66 per cent to $12.7 billion in the last three months of last year.
Citi's global cards business suffered from higher credit costs in the fourth quarter and in Asia it was mainly due to India.
"Higher credit costs were mainly driven by continued deterioration in the credit environment in India," the statement added.
In Asia, the credit costs increased 54 per cent, reflecting higher net credit losses, up 32 per cent or $39 million and a $46 million incremental net loan loss reserve build, the Citi statement said.
Further, Citi's Global Wealth Management (GWM) revenues declined 18 per cent, reflecting adverse impact of market conditions on capital markets and investment revenues, particularly in North America and Asia.
