Business

Citi stock up; Pandit’s rep, too

After five years of languishing in the doghouse, Citigroup’s boss, Vikram Pandit, may be enjoying a stint in the sun.

Shares of the global bank popped 5.5 percent yesterday, to $36.66 — their highest point since early spring — after reporting surprisingly strong third-quarter results that were chockablock with one-time items.

For example, Citigroup’s net profit of $468 million in the third quarter included a $582 million tax benefit tied to the resolution of tax audits, a funky $776 million charge related to improvements in its debt and a $2.9 billion after-tax loss tied to the write-down of its stake in the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney brokerage.

Investors were buoyed by the results.

“Our core businesses showed momentum during the quarter as we increased lending and generated higher operating revenues,” Pandit said.

Citi’s results showed a $1.06 a share gain off operating revenue of $19.4 billion, beating analyst estimates of roughly 96 cents a share.

“Vikram Pandit, the sleepy, quiet guy who people have pounded, is starting to show that he deserves congratulations,” said Marshall Front, chairman at investment manager Front Barnett Associates, whose firm has been a longtime investor in Citi’s shares.

Analysts also were heartened by the firm’s ability to eke out gains in its core business areas including investment banking, emerging markets and global consumer banking, noted Jason Goldberg bank analyst at Barclays.

“We think this is another step in the right direction,” Goldberg said. “There’s still more work to do,” he added.

A bright spot, revenues in fixed-income rose to $3.7 billion, excluding adjustments in the bank’s debt.

However, some still raised a warning flag on the global banking giant.

“They still need to tell us why they need to exist,” said Chris Whalen, managing director at Tangent Capital.

“I really can’t recommend them as a stock because [Pandit] hasn’t told us what their strategy is,” Whalen noted.

mark.decambre@nypost.com