Commerzbank will pay a dividend for the first time since 2007 as its recovery gains ground, it said on Monday, the day after its chief executive, architect of the bank’s turnaround, said he would step down in a year’s time.
Germany’s second-largest lender said it will pay out 20 cent per share for 2015, adding it would take time to reach its medium-term target of 40 per cent of net profit.
The bank has accrued €250 million ($275 million) for the payout but chief financial officer Stephan Engels said it would be difficult to post a net profit of more than €1 billion this year.
Commerzbank shares, down 90 per cent since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, rose 6.9 per cent by 1115, while the European bank sector was up 0.6 per cent.
Martin Blessing, the only chief executive of a German state-rescued bank to remain in power, had skirted questions on his future, but said on Sunday he would leave after his contract expires in October 2016, adding it was time for someone else to take over running the bank.
“When we pay a dividend in the spring of 2016 we will be a completely normal bank again,” Mr Blessing said in a note to staff on Monday, adding the sole motive for his departure was to seek a new professional challenge.
Some investors and analysts however said his move was overdue. “Investors have bled a lot in past years. A new CEO should come in from outside the bank with a new vision, a perspective on issues like cost structures,” a top 20 shareholder said.
– (Reuters)
