Citigroup says the first quarter of 2009 was much better than last year's.

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.