NEW YORK (AP) — Citigroup Inc. said it will pay its shareholders its token dividend of a penny per share for this quarter.
The bank’s CEO Vikram Pandit has been trying to increase the payout for shareholders and has recently said he hopes to increase the dividend in 2013.
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“I believe we will be in good shape and have the capital to be able to do that by the end of the year,” Pandit told the U.K.’s Sunday Telegraph in an interview this past weekend. “That’s a decision that will have to be taken with our regulators and we will have those conversations at the end of the year.”
Citigroup was forced to cut its dividend after it nearly collapsed during the financial crisis and was rescued by $45 billion in bailout money from the government in late 2008.
Last year, the Federal Reserve allowed the bank to restore its quarterly dividend at 1 cent per share.
In January, the bank asked the Fed for permission to raise its dividend again.
However, the Fed said the New York-based bank did not have enough capital to raise its dividend and also be prepared to withstand another financial crisis. That was a blow to Pandit, whose 2011 compensation package of $15 million for last year and $10 million retention pay was rejected by shareholders in an advisory vote the following month.
The bank did not ask the Federal Reserve for permission to raise the dividend last month, when it submitted its latest capital plan.
Citigroup’s board of directors said shareholders that hold the stock as of Aug. 6, will be paid the token dividend on Aug. 24.
Citigroup shares fell 32 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $27.06 in afternoon trading. Its shares have traded in a 52-week range of $21.40 to $40.50.
