Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit may collect at least $42 million under a retention award program, assuming the bank’s earnings meet analyst estimates.

Pandit, 54, would get more than $16 million, plus stock options, if the company meets performance targets, according to a regulatory filing by the bank yesterday. The package includes $6.65 million in profit sharing if the bank hits a minimum performance target. That portion of his payout that may quadruple if earnings match analysts’ estimates.

Pandit, who became CEO in December 2007, told Congress in February 2009 that he would slash his salary to $1 a year until the bank returned to profitability. Citigroup had more than $29 billion in losses during his first two full years in charge. The New York-based lender has since reported a $13.6 billion profit for the five quarters through the end of March. The board increased his salary to $1.75 million in January.

“Vikram has done an outstanding job since coming on board as the financial crisis began,” Chairman Richard Parsons, 63, said in a statement. “The long-term, multiyear, performance- based structure of this award is designed to retain Vikram as our CEO and reward him for future performance.”

The retention program awards Pandit a percentage of the cumulative pretax income at the bank’s Citicorp unit once that figure reaches $12 billion for 2011 and 2012, according to the filing. Pretax income amounted to $5 billion in the first quarter of this year, under the bank’s definition.

$26 Million Payout

According to an April estimate by Moshe Orenbuch, an analyst with Credit Suisse AG, pretax income could reach $46.9 billion for the full two years. By this estimate, Pandit would receive $26 million from the profit-sharing plan. Shannon Bell, a spokeswoman for the bank, declined to comment on the calculations.

The package also includes $10 million in deferred stock, paid out in three annual installments, the last of which vests at the end of 2015, according to the filing. The award depends on Pandit meeting “regulatory considerations” as well as creating a culture of “responsible finance” and developing talent for succession of senior managers, the bank said.

The stock options have a value of $6 million to $6.5 million, according to the person familiar with the bank’s estimates, who declined to be identified because the figures aren’t public. Citigroup shares have fallen 13 percent this year.