Deutsche Bank today pledged to garner euro 1.5 billion a year in a restructuring drive in the wake of a bigger-than-expected 20 per cent fall in its fourth quarter pre-tax profit.
Germany's largest bank, striving to join leaders Wall Street names in the big league of investment banking, announced it would cut 2,600 jobs by 2003 and generate combined yearly cost savings and earnings growth of euro 1.5 billion.
Deutsche Bank pre-tax profit fell in the final quarter of 2000 against the previous quarter as trading income shrank and risk provisions rose.
Its shares fell 4.8 per cent to euro 99.60 this morning - down from a euro 105.64 all-time high yesterday.
It did not provide fourth-quarter figures but based on nine-month results reported last year fourth-quarter pr-etax profit was around euro 818 million versus average forecasts of euro 868 million by analysts.
Net commission income in the final quarter is down 10 per cent while trading profit fell 4 per cent. Earnings in the last quarter fell overall while administration costs rose.
Net profit for the fourth quarter edged only slightly lower, easing two pe rcent to euro 581 million but still falling slightly short of analysts' expectations.
For the full year 2000 the bank said its net profit more than doubled to a new record of euro 4.949 billion. This was broadly in line with analysts' expectations.
Full-year earnings were driven by a 52 per cent surge in trading profit to euro 6.891 billion and a 42 per cent jump in net commission income euro 11.468 billion.
Reuters