Deutsche Bank Posts First Loss Since WW II

Breitbart
Deutsche Bank posts first loss since WWII, rejects state aid
Feb 5 09:12 AM

Germany's biggest lender, Deutsche Bank, on Thursday posted its first annual loss since World War II after a terrible fourth quarter but said it would survive the global meltdown without state aid.

Chairman Josef Ackermann said the bank did not require government assistance and would pull out of the financial crisis on its own.

Deutsche Bank reported a net loss of 3.9 billion euros (5.0 billion dollars) for 2008 after a massive loss of 4.8 billion euros in the fourth quarter alone. For 2007, Deutsche Bank have posted a record profit of 6.5 billion euros....

Ackermann added that he saw no "dramatic" risks in the bank's accounts.

In a statement earlier, he said "operating conditions in the (fourth) quarter were completely unprecedented and exposed some weaknesses in our business model.

He acknowledged being "very disappointed" at the quarterly figures but said that "since the trust and support of our shareholders is critical for us, we recommend a dividend for the year 2008 of 50 cents per share."

...Ackermann said he remained committed to the bank's business model, which is focused on investment banking, a once lucrative field in which Deutsche Bank is one of the global leaders.

The sector has suffered sustained turmoil since mid-2007 when the US subprime or higher risk home loan market collapsed, undercutting the derivative investment instruments which had been linked to it by the banks...

For the full year 2008, Deutsche Bank revised the total value of its assets lower by 7.0 billion euros, more than three times the 2007 write-downs of 2.3 billion euros.

In the fourth quarter alone, asset write-downs amounted to 5.3 billion euros.