* Slashes dividend by 60 pct

* Q1 net interest income down 3 pct

* Q1 credit loss provision triples * Sees earnings above $0.04/shr going forward

(Adds details from conference call)

April 23 (Reuters) - Bank holding company City National Corp (CYN.N: Quote, Profile, Research) posted an 83 percent drop in quarterly profit, as provision for credit losses tripled, and slashed its dividend for the second time in the year.

"We believe we have made it through the worst of our residential construction credit problems. We think home values are in the process of bottoming out here in California," Chief Executive Russell Goldsmith said in a conference call.

However, the company is seeing some more stress in its non-residential construction and commercial and industrial portfolios, he said.

Earnings going forward will be better than 4 cents a share and provisioning will stay around first-quarter levels for the rest of the year, Goldsmith said.

First-quarter provision for loan losses was $50.0 million.