Citi to exit consumer banking in 11 markets; Q3 profit improves

New York

CITIGROUP Inc said it was pulling out of consumer banking in 11 markets, including Japan and Egypt, as the US bank with the biggest international business looks to cut persistently high costs.

The third-largest US bank, built with a series of acquisitions spanning back to the 1980s, has been trying to slim down since the financial crisis to be as profitable as rivals. It has shed hundreds of billions of dollars of bad assets.