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Deutsche Bank posts quarterly net loss as legal costs weigh

Published 29/10/2014, 09:28
© Reuters A man walks past Deutsche Bank offices in London
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By Thomas Atkins and Arno Schuetze

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) reported a net loss in the third quarter as heavy legal costs weighed on earnings, while a modest rise in investment banking results lagged many of the big gains seen by its peers.

The loss comes one day after the bank reshuffled and expanded its management board by naming a Goldman Sachs banker as chief financial officer and creating a new board role to sharpen the bank's focus on resolving a long list of lawsuits and investigations.

Germany's top lender reported quarterly net loss of 92 million euros ($117 million), as heavy charges for expected fines and settlements ate into a modest 2 percent increase in net revenue.

The group's important investment banking division saw a 9 percent rise in revenue as debt trading climbed 15 percent, a relatively modest increase compared with its U.S.-based rivals. Morgan Stanley (N:MS) reported an 87 percent rise in earnings due to increased trading.

Deutsche Bank spent 894 million euros on litigation costs in the quarter. In total, it has spent around 7 billion euros on fines and settlements since 2012.

The bank also sounded a note of caution on some of its revised 2015 profit goals, saying conditions remained challenging in several areas including transaction banking.

But Deutsche Bank said it was "broadly on track" to deliver on its promise of a 13-15 percent profit gain in its investment banking division.

Deutsche Bank shares were indicated down 2.2 percent in pre-market trading on Wednesday.

HEADWINDS

The bank is two years into a turnaround plan launched in 2012 that has seen costs fall and operating profit leap, but the threat of further penalties from alleged misconduct has cast a shadow over its share price and management's success claims.

The risk of additional legal costs has burdened Deutsche Bank, as regulators in the United States, Germany and the UK press investigations into possible attempts at interest-rate and forex-benchmark manipulation, high-frequency trading, possible violations of U.S. sanctions on Iran and other activities.

With the threat looming of fines and settlement costs, as well as European banking stress tests year, Germany's largest lender raised 8.5 billion euros in June to strengthen its balance sheet.

The bank originally hoped to clear the decks of legal issues in 2014 but has guided that 2015 will likely be the year instead when the majority of investigations are concluded.

"There continues to be significant uncertainty about the timing and size of potential impacts" of litigation, Chief Financial Officer Stefan Krause said in a conference call with analysts.

The bank has reorganised its management board by adding two members, with one, Christian Sewing, devoting himself primarily to resolving legal issues in what the bank said was a concerted focus on resolving its long list of pending litigation.

Marcus Schenck, the London-based Goldman Sachs investment banker and former and finance chief at German energy group E.ON (DE:EONGn) will replace current CFO Stefan Krause, who will take on a new board position in charge of group strategy.

© Reuters. A man walks past Deutsche Bank offices in London

(1 US dollar = 0.7849 euro)

(Editing by Ryan Woo and Clara Ferreira Marques)

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