How can a company have a negative Enterprise Value and a positive Book Value?

Example: Citigroup (C:NYSE)


Enterprise Value: -45B


Book Value per share: 13


5.4 billion outstanding shares





this is pre-March 12th, it recently changed to a positive enterprise value of 53B, but these were the numbers... I guess the government's cash infusion changed things.How can a company have a negative Enterprise Value and a positive Book Value?
probably carrying more debt then their capital is worth. Like having a 250k mortgage on a 200k house. But they are still turning a profit.


But i don't know much about economics, so the terms may not be so straight forward.How can a company have a negative Enterprise Value and a positive Book Value?
Well, enterprise value is based on market capitalization + debt - cash equivalents. Banks books value is heavily weighted towards cash equivalents which are a negative in the formula. Market cap for a company selling at 1.50 a share is not too great, so the only positive in the formula is debt of which C does have a tidy sum but they also have a much more tidy sum of cash equivalents which throws the value into the negative. Interestingly though, you do not see anyone beating the door down to take the company over. It might be that debt is under reported especially as it relates to potential liabilities that have not yet been recognized.