With over 1.4 billion euros, Commerzbank will make its highest profit in over ten years in 2022 - thanks in part to the interest rate turnaround in the euro area. The institute wants to pay dividends again and return to the Dax. "Commerzbank is back," announces bank boss Knof.
Interest income from corporate customer business more than tripled Commerzbank's profit last year. The bottom line was a profit of 1.4 billion euros in 2022, after 430 million euros in the previous year, as Germany's second largest private bank announced - and that despite charges of around one billion euros at the Polish subsidiary mBank. Analysts interviewed by the bank had expected a profit of 1.35 billion euros. The operating result was 2.1 billion euros after 1.18 billion euros in the previous year. Commerzbank is making the highest profit in more than ten years.
Bank boss Manfred Knof thus exceeded his goal of increasing consolidated profit to over one billion euros. "This shows that our strategy is working and that we have managed to turn the tide," explained Knof. "Commerzbank is back." The bank intends to increase earnings further this year. “The bottom line is that the consolidated result should be significantly higher than that of 2022,” said the institute.
For the first time in four years, the bank is proposing a dividend of 20 cents per share. However, analysts had expected a higher payout of 25 cents per share. Since the 2008 financial crisis, the institute has only paid out part of its profits to shareholders in two years - 2015 and 2018.
In addition, the Management Board also intends to return money to shareholders through a share buyback program. In total, 30 percent of the profit is to be distributed, and the quota is to rise to 50 percent in 2023. However, the share buyback still has to be approved by the European Central Bank (ECB) as the supervisory authority and by the Federal Finance Agency. This holds the state share in the bank.
After two profitable years in a row, the institute is aiming to return to the Dax. In order to accelerate the return to the first German stock exchange league after four and a half years, Commerzbank had already published key data for the past year at the end of January. On Friday evening, Deutsche Börse announced who will move up to the group of 40 companies in the German share index for the gas manufacturer Linde on February 27th.
Commerzbank lost its place in the Dax in autumn 2018 - to the payment service provider Wirecard, which collapsed not even two years later in the course of a balance sheet scandal. In 2021, Commerzbank was back in the black after a corporate restructuring and had earned 430 million euros on balance.
