FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German bank Commerzbank said on Wednesday its net profit nearly doubled in the first quarter, doing better than expected on the back of higher interest rates but that boost is expected to fade, sending the stock market share of the bank.
At 09:09 GMT, the title Commerzbank fell by more than 6% on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the red lantern of the DAX index.
The German bank’s chief financial officer, Bettina Orlopp, warned analysts that net interest income likely peaked in the quarter.
She also indicated that additional provisions related to the Polish subsidiary mBank were possible.
In the first quarter, Commerzbank’s net profit amounted to 580 million euros against 298 million euros a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected a profit of 481 million euros, according to a consensus published by Commerzbank.
The bank sees “upside potential” for its net interest income this year and raised its forecast to 7 billion euros from 6.5 billion, a target which nevertheless remains below some analysts’ expectations.
Commerzbank is in the midst of restructuring and has cut thousands of jobs and closed hundreds of branches to cut costs and boost profits.
In the first quarter, many banks posted revenue and profit growth thanks to rising interest rates.
Last year, Commerzbank posted a second consecutive year of profits and re-entered the DAX index.
The banking establishment is still partially owned by the German state after being bailed out during the financial crisis more than a decade ago, and analysts say it is vulnerable to runaway inflation, a slowing economy and potentially impaired loans.
“Commerzbank is in good health. Our transformation is progressing well and increasingly bearing fruit,” said the bank’s chief executive, Manfred Knof.
(Report by Tom Sims and Frank Siebelt, Victor Goury-Laffont, edited by Matthieu Protard and Blandine Hénault)
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