Citigroup says the first quarter of 2009 was much better than last year's, AP reported. The bank is reporting a loss to common shareholders of $966 million after massive loan losses and dividends to preferred stockholders. But before paying those dividends, the bank is posting net income of $1.6 billion. Overall, Citigroup's results are better than expected. The company reported a loss per share of 18 cents, which was narrower than the 34 cents analysts predicted. A year ago, Citigroup suffered a loss of more than $5 billion. Citigroup has been one of the weakest of the large U.S. banks. But in March, CEO Vikram Pandit triggered a stock market rally after he said that January and February had been profitable for Citigroup.
