As Lloyd Blankfein probably reached for his aspirin bottle when he woke up yesterday, Vikram Pandit likely started the day with a huge smile.

That’s because the tale of these two bankers unfolded with an usual twist yes terday as Pan dit, Citigroup’s long-embattled chief, saw his bank’s profit double from a year ago.

At the same time, Blankfein was on the other end, con tinuing to battle against the Securities and Exchange Commission’s claim Friday that the gold-plated bank engaged in fraud when selling a collateralized debt obligation backed by subprime loans.

Pandit couldn’t hide his pleasure at reporting Citi’s turnaround strategy is finally showing signs of success following two annual losses totaling $29 billion.

Citi reported a first-quarter profit of $4.43 billion, up from a $1.5 billion profit a year ago. It was the bank’s best showing in nearly three years, thanks to Pandit’s efforts at trimming loan costs and boosting trading revenue.

Shares of Citi soared on the early earnings report before settling at $4.88, up 32 cents.

Citi earned 15 cents per share on revenue of $25.4 billion, which easily beat analysts expectations of a slight loss.

Separately, Vice Chairman Ned Kelly was tapped to run Citi’s global banking operation and will oversee planned sales of the bank’s assets.