Germany’s Commerzbank has reported strong second-quarter earnings as the lender has been able to strengthen its retail banking segment. Executives spoke of a successful turnaround after years of deep trouble.
From April to June, Germany’s second largest lender after Deutsche Bank logged bottom-line earnings of 280 million euros ($307 million), against 100 million euros in the first three months of 2015.
“The substantial improvement in our income is a clear sign of the turnaround success of Commerzbank,” Chairman Martin Blessing said in a statement.
The German government bailed out the Frankfurt-based lender at the height of the financial crisis in 2009 for 16.2 billion euros – about half of what Berlin paid out to stem damage to the country’s banking system.
Shareholders to profit
Commerzbank also reported a 15.5-percent rise in turnover to total 5.2 billion euros in the second quarter.
In the first half of 2015, pre-tax earnings had already surged past the 1 billion-euro threshold, largely due to the Commerzbank’s strengthened retail banking division. Counting some 11.5 million private clients, the lender earned 332 million euros in that segment.
Commerzbank noted its provisions for non-performing loans would amount to less than 1 billion euros in the course of the year.
For the first time since 2007, the bank is planning to pay a dividend to its shareholders of .10 euros per share.
hg/cjc (Reuters, AFP)
