Our long held view, as the New York Post noted, is that much of what comes out of the Citigroup boardroom is too slow and too late. Something of another installment in that department occurred today when CEO Vikram Pandit issued a memo to employees in which he said Citi has been profitable for the past two months.
As he outlined in the memo:
I am most encouraged with the strength of our business so far in 2009. In fact, we are profitable through the first two months of 2009 and are having our best quarter-to-date performance since the third quarter of 2007. In January and February alone, our revenues excluding externally disclosed marks were $19 billion.
That is most encouraging, no doubt, especially if the optimism holds. But here is a question for you, Mr. Pandit: Why did you wait until the stock crashed through the dollar mark and was trading for pennies before you brought out any good news? Last week, you seemed to go radio silent while thousands sold the shares they had left…for pennies. It might have meant more to have heard from you when the stock was hovering around $4 in early February. As it is, it may be good news, but it still comes in pennies.
Smart plays in banking, as in football, work best when the ball is still in your hands. Not after the game is over.