 reported a full year loss of 1.4 billion euros on Thursday, hit by the legal fees and fines it racked up during the course.){kind=link}
Deutsche Bank (ETR:DBK) reported a full year loss of 1.4 billion euros on Thursday, hit by the legal fees and fines it racked up during the course of the year.
The large sum set aside for settlements weighed on otherwise positive results, with revenues for the fourth quarter up 6 percent year-on-year at 7 billion euros. Core capital ratio was 11.9 percent at year-end, up from 11.1 percent at the end of the third quarter 2016, the strongest figure for twelve quarters.
Adjusted costs in the fourth quarter were 6.2 billion euros, down 9 percent year-on-year, with full-year adjusted costs down 6 percent.
John Cryan, CEO, commented: “Our results for the year 2016 were heavily impacted by decisive management action taken to improve and modernise the bank, as well as by market turbulence for Deutsche Bank. We proved our resilience in a particularly tough year. We finished 2016 with pleasingly strong capital and liquidity ratios and we are optimistic after a promising start to this year.”
The “tough” year included a £500 million fine earlier this week in connection with a Russian money laundering plan, as well as an agreement with the US Department of Justice earlier this year to pay $7.2 billion for its role in the 2008 financial crisis. The US penalty was the largest ever awarded against a bank and is still only half than the original sum the US authorities were considering charging.
Low interest rates have created a poor trading climate for banks of late, with many cutting jobs and making savings where possible. Deutsche Bank is in the process of closing 200 branches in Germany and laying off about 9,000 of its roughly 100,000 full-time staff.
Deutsche Bank shares dropped heavily on the results, currently trading down 5.53 percent at 18.10 (1012GMT).