Citigroup posted a $4.43 billion first-quarter profit, as losses from bad loans declined. The third-largest US bank posted net income to shareholders of 15 cents a share, compared with a shareholder loss of 18 cents a share, or $966 million, a year earlier.

Citigroup, long seen as the weakest of the major US banks, seems to be recovering. In March, chief executive Vikram Pandit said the bank was on track to return to sustained profitability and that losses from its bad assets should be manageable.