Deutsche Bank becomes latest to post strong results
Deutsche Bank reported a net profit of €1.2 billion ($1.56 billion; Dh5.7 billion), far surpassing market expectations.
In the first quarter of 2008, Deutsche Bank had suffered a net loss of €141 million, and analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast a net profit of €764 million this time around.
Bank chairman Josef Ackermann said: "This was a key quarter for Deutsche Bank. Once again we demonstrated our strength, as we have consistently throughout this crisis.
"In this quarter, we also proved our earnings power."
Deutsche Bank is the latest global bank to report solid first quarter results, along with peers Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse, giving a glimmer of hope that the financial crisis could be past the worst.
Net bank revenues gained 56 percent to €7.2 billion from €4.6 billion in the same period a year earlier, a statement said.
Deutsche Bank nonetheless also said it had marked down the value of its assets by €1 billion, including €841 million taken as further provisions against possible losses related to monoline insurers.
They ensure the repayment of bond principal and interest when an issuer defaults.
Provisions taken against credit losses rose to €526 million from €114 million in the first quarter of 2008, the bank said.
But the bank's corporate banking and securities division posted sales and trading revenues of €3.8 billion, a leap of 185 per cent on activities such as foreign exchange, money markets and Treasury bills.
"Looking forward, we see continued challenges, but also opportunities," Ackermann stressed, though the bank did not immediately provide a detailed outlook for 2009.
The results underscored the chairman's "firm belief that Deutsche Bank is well-positioned not only to weather the current crisis, but also to emerge stronger than ever in the medium term."
On Monday, Deutsche Bank extended Ackermann's contract by three years to 2013 after the data eased the memory of the bank's 2008 full-year loss of €3.9 billion, its first loss since the bank assumed its present form in 1956.
On Tuesday, the bank said its Tier 1 capital ratio, an important measure of financial strength, had risen to 10.2 per cent at the end of the first quarter, above its published target of 10 per cent.
Dow Jones Newswires quoted a trader who said the bank's figures were "good across the board," and that the Tier 1 ratio figure was particularly surprising.
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