There will be more "Bear Stearns" in April

Citigroup, Merrill May Post $15 Billion Writedowns, Times Says By Mathew Carr April 13 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. will reveal at least $15 billion more of subprime mortgage writedowns this week, the Sunday Times of London reported, citing analysts it didn't identify. Citigroup will have $10 billion of writedowns, taking its first-quarter loss to about $3 billion, the newspaper said. Some analysts say the Citigroup writedowns may stretch to $12 billion, it said. Merrill may have a $5 billion writedown, taking it to a $2.7 billion loss, the report said. Deutsche Bank AG, Germany's biggest lender, is attempting to sell 35 billion euros ($55 billion) of debt to a group of private equity firms, the newspaper also said. The world's biggest banks have suffered losses and writedowns of almost $250 billion since the beginning of last year, the newspaper said, citing analysts. Citigroup, the biggest bank by assets since the merger of Citicorp and Travelers Group Inc. in 1998, took $24 billion in subprime writedowns and reduced its dividend 41 percent in January, the first cut since Citigroup was formed. To contact the reporters on this story: Mathew Carr in London at m.carr@bloomberg.net

dr. O: welcome ! another great handle !