Deutsche Bank shares fall on news of capital hike

FRANKFURT AM MAIN: Shares in Germany’s biggest lender Deutsche Bank fell as much as 6.0 percent as the Frankfurt market opened yesterday, hours after the bank announced it would raise cash by issuing new shares. The bank’s shares were trading down 5.9 percent at 18.01 euros ($19.15) at 0910 GMT, making Deutsche the worst performer in the Dax index of leading German companies, which was down 0.75 percent.

Sunday’s announcement that the banking giant would raise new capital is a turnaround for CEO John Cryan, who until recently insisted no such move was needed. “We expect that large shareholders will sign up to the capital increase. The environment seems stable enough,” analyst Ingo Frommen of LBBW bank wrote. Nevertheless, “Deutsche Bank has further years of tough restructuring ahead of it,” he went on. “The revised strategy is no guarantee of success.” Deutsche reported a net loss of 1.4 billion euros for 2016, after it agreed with US authorities around $7 billion in fines and compensation over its role in the sub-prime mortgage crisis.

Shares in the bank plunged at several points throughout last year, including when news of an initial $14 billion US fine demand became public in September and when several hedge funds later withdrew investments. Sunday’s announcement included a revised plan to offer investors a 19 euro cents per share dividend at the annual general meeting, although executives had initially said there would be no payout. But the prospect of a dividend has failed to calm investors’ fears for the future of Deutsche. —AFP