Citigroup to shed nearly $500B in assets

But the road to recovery is going to be a difficult one.

Most analysts believe that while the bulk of the bank's write-downs are through, there are still at least some more to come. In a note Thursday, Deutsche Bank analyst Mike Mayo estimated that Citigroup's $29 billion bucket of mortgage investments and related structured products has the potential to result in another $15 billion write-down.

And given that Citigroup has $63 billion in exposure to home equity loans, $150 billion to mortgages, $21 billion to auto loans, and other exposure to consumer loans such as credit cards, Mayo estimated that the bank will have to build up its reserves by an additional $5 billion.

Amid substantial turmoil in the credit markets, Citigroup generated $13.22 billion in revenue during the first quarter -48 percent less than the $25.46 billion it generated during the first three months of 2007.

Citigroup shares were unchanged at midday Friday. The stock is down 17.5 percent in 2008 and 55.1 percent over the last 12 months.

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AP Business Writer Stephen Bernard in New York contributed to this report.