Deutsche Bank swings to Q1 loss amid restructuring, coronavirus outbreak

[FRANKFURT] Deutsche Bank swung to a loss in the first quarter as the bank undergoes a costly overhaul and battles pressure on revenue amid the coronavirus crisis, the German lender said on Wednesday.

The bank earlier this week published some earnings results but not the bottom-line figure attributable to shareholders, which showed a loss of 43 million euros (S$65.9 million) in the quarter compared with a 97 million euro profit a year ago.

The figure, like those disclosed on Sunday, was still better than analysts had initially expected, and reflect a revenue lift from a surge in trading as markets swung wildly.

But the quarterly performance may say little about the bank's outlook for the rest of the year as it tries to engineer a turnaround after five years of losses.

The coronavirus outbreak didn't kick in until the quarter was well underway, and the bank has said it may miss some targets. Some senior bankers have privately grown more pessimistic about the speed of the economic recovery over recent weeks.

"In the current crisis, we have shown robust numbers and demonstrated strong performance in support of our clients across all core businesses," Deutsche Bank chief executive Christian Sewing said in a statement accompanying the results.

REUTERS