NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc said yesterday it plans to raise $14.5 billion, slash its dividend and cut 4,200 jobs to help shore up its balance sheet after a huge write-down for mortgages led to a record quarterly loss of $9.83 billion.

The capital infusion includes $12.5 billion from investors including Singapore's and Kuwait's governments, former Citigroup chief executive Sanford "Sandy" Weill and Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, Citigroup's largest individual shareholder.

Adding the much-needed cash may help the largest US bank and new chief executive Vikram Pandit survive through the credit market and housing crises.

Citigroup announced an $18.1 billion write-down and cut its dividend 41 percent. Some analysts expected or were hoping for even larger amounts, and said Citigroup faces a tough road ahead.

"You expected the figures to be shocking," said Simon Maughan, an analyst at MF Global in London. "You cannot say it's definitively over but you have got to say, 'This is probably the big one'."

Shares of Citigroup fell $1.76, or 6.1 percent, to $27.30 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Citigroup's record fourth-quarter loss totalled $1.99 per share, and was roughly twice as big as analysts expected. Standard & Poor's cut the bank's credit rating.

The loss stemmed largely from exposure to subprime mortgages, plus a $5.41 billion jump in credit costs, including a $3.85 billion charge to add reserves.

Citigroup, based in New York, cut its quarterly dividend to 32 cents per share from 54 cents, a move that could save it about $4.4 billion a year.

The job cuts, equal to just over one percent of Citigroup's work force, reduced earnings by $337 million. They are in addition to 17,000 cuts announced last April.

Citigroup said it is raising $12.5 billion from a private sale of convertible preferred securities.

It said the amount includes $6.88 billion from Singapore Investment Corp Pte Ltd, and investments from the Kuwait Investment Authority, Weill and his family foundation, Alwaleed, the money manager Capital Research & Management, and the state of New Jersey. Kuwait said its investment totalled $3 billion.

Citigroup also plans to sell $2 billion more convertible preferred securities, and other preferred securities.

The new investments are on top of a $7.5 billion infusion that Citigroup got in November from Abu Dhabi's government, in exchange for a 4.9 percent stake.

"What Pandit's doing here is setting the table for 2008," said William Smith, chief executive of Smith Asset Management in New York. "The investment from Sandy Weill is a huge vote of confidence on his part. I'm surprised to see his name."

Alwaleed, in a statement, said his investment reflects his "strong support of Citigroup, and belief in its long-term success and profitability".

On a conference call, Pandit called the Citigroup investments "a vote of confidence" after an "unacceptable" quarter, adding: "There is no doubt that we're in the midst of a very challenging environment."

But unlike predecessor Charles Prince, who became known for making off-the-cuff comments that in retrospect looked unwise or ill-timed, Pandit said: "Given this environment, I'm not going to make any promises."

Pandit also said it is too early to assess whether Citigroup might divest less-important assets.

Through Monday, Citigroup shares had fallen 47 percent in the last year, compared with a 28 percent drop in the Philadelphia KBW Bank Index.

Mounting credit losses and a failure to consistently boost revenue faster than costs led to Prince's November departure.

Pandit joined Citigroup in July when the bank bought his hedge fund firm, Old Lane Partners LP, for $800 million.

The $18.1 billion write-down includes $17.4 billion related to collateralised debt obligations, and was roughly twice the $8 billion to $11 billion that Citigroup had estimated on November 4.

Citigroup also in December brought billions of dollars of debt-laden structured investment vehicles onto its balance sheet, after an attempt to create a "super-SIV" to help sell those securities foundered after a lack of investor demand.

The bank ended the year with a Tier-1 capital ratio of 7.1 percent, down from 7.32 percent on September 30, though above the six percent that regulators say indicates a "well-capitalised" bank. The ratio measures a bank's ability to cover losses.

Citigroup said that if it completes the $12.5 billion offering and its planned purchase of Japanese brokerage Nikko Cordial Corp, its Tier-1 ratio would be 8.2 percent.