reuters/test/14873

CITIBANK NORWAY UNIT LOSES SIX MLN CROWNS IN 1986
  Citibank A/S <CCI.N>, the Norwegian
  subsidiary of the U.S.-based bank, said it made a net loss of
  just over six mln crowns in 1986 -- although foreign bankers
  said they expect it to show 1987 profits after two lean years.
      Citibank's Oslo treasury head Bjoern Sejerstad told
  Reuters, Citibank, one of seven foreign bank subsidiaries
  operating in Norway, lost money because of restructuring for
  investment banking away from commercial banking and an economic
  slump in Norway following last year's plunge in oil prices.
      Foreign banks have been allowed to operate susbidiaries in
  Norway since 1985.
      Foreign banking analysts in Oslo said access to Norway's
  second-hand securities and equities markets, to be approved
  later this spring, and lower primary reserve requirements would
  make profit this year.
      Citibank lost 490,000 crowns in Norway in 1985, but
  Sejerstad said a profit was likely this year because of planned
  liberalisation and better economic performance, helped by a
  steadier oil price of around 18 dlrs a barrel.
      Earlier this year, Chase Manhattan Bank's <CMB.N>
  subsidiary decided to stop foreign exchange trading after heavy
  losses and focus instead on fee-based merchant banking.