Citicorp nonperformers still climbing, Reed says.

NEW YORK - Citicorp's nonperforming assets are still rising, although the pace of that rise continues to slow, chairman John Reed said Tuesday.

Mr. Reed, speaking at a conference sponsored by Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, also said that the company will continue to cut costs in 1993, though less drastically than this year. He said more layoffs would occur, but he did not specify a number.

Citicorp had previously said that credit costs should fall in 1993.

Though real estate problems in Australia, North America, and the United Kingdom are stubborn, Citicorp expects no other realty surprises, Mr. Reed said.

He said the bank has no Japanese exposure and nothing significant in Europe.

Mr. Reed also sees little change next year in the bank's high levels of consumer write-offs.

And he confirmed that he has no plans to fill the vacancy left by the departure of the bank's president, Richard Braddock.

The Citicorp chairman also confirmed analysts' reports that his company plans to sell assets in the next several quarters for an after-tax gain of $800 million to help build capital.

He said Citicorp needs to add $2 billion to $3 billion of capital by 1994.

The company will have fully recovered its earning power by the end of this year, Mr. Reed said, and will be a "little ahead" of its five-year plan to restore its health.

He reiterated that he expects commercial credit costs in 1993 to be in the range of $400 million to $450 million per quarter and consumer losses $750 million per quarter.

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