Deutsche Bank, the biggest bank in Germany, said today its net profit amounted to euro 2.451 billion euros in the first six months of the current year, down from euro 3.777 billion 12 months earlier.
It noted, however, that the first-half net profit figure this year still represented about half the net profit of euro 4.949 billionthat it achieved in the whole of last year.
Earnings in the second quarter alone had been boosted by income from the divestment of a number of shareholdings, the statement said.
For example, Deutsche Bank had booked profit of euro 1 billion from the sale of its 2.2-per cent stake in the reinsurance giant Munich Re.
Under changes in the German tax law which came into effect at the beginning of this year, Deutsche Bank will not have to pay tax on such proceeds.
On the negative side, second-quarter earnings were also influenced by adjustments to market value and value adjustments in the fields of private equity and real estate, the bank said.
Deutsche Bank said its provisions for bad or risky loans almost trebled, jumping 197.9 per cent to euro 429 million. Operating expenses grew by 6.9 per cent to euro 10.988 billion.
AFP