And yet shares of financial stocks, as measured by the Standard & Poor’s financial index, have soared this week as investor expectations have been beaten down so much that anything short of horrific now qualifies as good news.

Citigroup shareholders have had little to cheer recently. Since Sanford I. Weill put together the landmark Citicorp-Travelers Group merger in April 1998, the bank has been plagued by dismal results and a series of scandals. Many of the highly touted advantages of its financial supermarket model, where gains in one business can offset weakness in others, have proven elusive. And the failure to properly integrate the company has led to bloated costs, brutal politics and a lack of a cohesive culture.

Mr. Pandit, a former Morgan Stanley investment banker with a Ph.D. in finance, is now tackling those problems. He has settled on a plan that will keep the bank’s diversified business model largely in tact but promises better execution and risk oversight.

He has also vowed to push the company into products and overseas markets that promise faster growth. To raise capital, he is shedding several businesses, like the sale of Citi’s commercial lending to the General Electric Company on Wednesday, that he believes no longer fit into its plans.

“We are very, very focused on efficiency,” Mr. Pandit said. “We have a new organization that will create accountability at many levels.”

Mr. Pandit has already begun to reshape the company since taking over for Charles O. Prince III in December. He has overhauled the company with a new, regionally focused organizational structure aimed to speed decision-making. He has recruited several outsiders to replenish the bank’s depleted management roster, including a new head of its consumer operations and chief risk officer. Mr. Pandit is also intensely focused on cutting costs as he cleans up the mortgage mess on Citigroup’s books.

But judging from the results of this quarter, there is still work to do.

Executive have sharply reduced the bank’s exposure to most risky “super-senior” collateralized debt obligations. It has also sold about $10 billion of leveraged loans, though at a steep discount. It currently has about $28 billion in buyout loans. And executives said they are looking to offload other assets.