CITIGROUP, the biggest US financial services group, on Monday bore witness to the effects of the economic slowdown in its home economy and the worldwide stockmarket slump, with first quarter earnings falling below expectations and levels achieved in the same period last year. The bank, insurance and consumer finance group’s earnings per share fell 6,6% to 71 cents, from 76c in the first quarter of 2000, as operating income dropped from $3,94bn to $3,66bn. Most spectacularly, corporate and investment banking core income dropped 21% from the first quarter of 2000, to $1,01bn, as profits from advising on new stock offering dried up with the slump in world markets, undermining rising income from the group’s global consumer businesses. This division saw core income rise by 18% to $1,78bn, led particularly by the US credit cards business and growth in the company’s businesses in Japan.