May 9, 2008 10:53AM

Analyst Question Portion Of Meeting Underway

By Donna Fuscaldo

Right out of the gate analysts want to know why Citi isn’t divesting more assets and why Pandit seems to be embracing the old business mix under ousted CEO Chuck Prince. One analyst asked Pandit why Citi doesn’t get rid of its U.S. consumer business, a business analysts have said make sense to shed. Pandit says Citi won’t do that because he thinks the U.S. consumer unit is a “great business.”  The U.S. credit card business has an annuity revenue stream and is “critical” to its credit card business growing internationally, says Pandit. As for the consumer finance business, Pandit said it’s a “great business,” with high credit quality. Ditto for its US retail bank.