Deutsche Bank crashes to massive €5.7bn loss
Deutsche Bank slipped to a larger than expected loss of €5.7bn (£4.8bn) last year, as the costs of its turnaround drive hit profits.
The German banking giant has now posted losses for five consecutive years.
Deutsche has struggled with misconduct scandals, failed US growth plans and an abortive merger with rival Commerzbank.
Chief executive Christian Sewing’s latest attempts at a turnaround is a €7.4bn (£6.3bn) drive to cut 18,000 jobs, increase its focus on corporate banking and slim down its investment bank.
The €1.6bn loss in the fourth quarter was larger than the €1bn forecast, meaning the full-year result missed expectations of a €5bn loss.
“Our new strategy is gaining traction,” Sewing said today, pointing to stabilising revenue in the second-half of 2019 and an improved capital position.
“While capital was a positive surprise, weak core operating trends could lead to further core bank downgrades, leaving Deutsche Bank’s share price vulnerable after a good start to the year,” Credit Suisse analysts wrote in a note.
Shares rose 1.6 per cent this morning to €8.11.
In the last five years the bank has lost €15bn and over the last decade its share price has crashed 82 per cent.
Revenue fell four per cent in the fourth quarter to €5.3bn and was down eight per cent for the year to €23.2bn.
“For us Deutsche Bank remains a ‘show me’ stock on revenues and we need evidence in future quarters to give credit on revenue turnaround,” JP Morgan Cazenove analysts said in a note.