Despite Corona, Deutsche Bank also presented a surprisingly good result in the third quarter. The CEO is enthusiastic – but does not want to rule out a merger with the major Swiss bank UBS in the long term.
The CEO of Deutsche Bank, Christian Sewing, is "proud" of the company's good quarterly results. With a profit of 482 million euros before taxes in the third quarter, Deutsche Bank has exceeded even the most optimistic forecasts. "This is a continuation of the clear development over the last 15 months," said Sewing on RTL / ntv "Frühstart". "We achieved our goals in all business areas: very successful investment banking, but I am also very proud of the business areas that have done extremely well in an environment of low interest rates." The restructuring of the bank is paying off, so far in every quarter of 2020 compared to the same period of the previous year. Despite this positive development, Sewing does not want to rule out a merger of the largest German financial institution with a European competitor, which has been speculated about again and again.
In the second and third quarters, the economy experienced a significantly stronger upswing overall than was feared during the first Corona wave in spring. Sewing expressly praised the federal government for this: "We certainly owe that to the reaction of the federal government with the support programs. But now we have to be prepared for the fact that this upswing will decrease somewhat in the next six months. Nevertheless, he believes that Germany still has a good chance – "in the best case" – of getting through the crisis and even "has one or the other opportunity to grow."
However, Sewing also expects the crisis to be reflected in more bankruptcies in the coming year. "We all have to be prepared, especially in the fourth quarter and in the first quarter of next year, that the uncertainty will rise again." Sewing believes that his bank is well positioned to deal with these uncertainties. You will have provisions between 0.35 and 0.45 percent of the loan volume as risk provisions – "significantly less than the competition".
Sewing does not want to rule out a future merger of Deutsche Bank, for example with the major Swiss bank UBS, in the "early start". "In this industry and in general, I can't rule out anything at all. I can only say what Deutsche Bank's goal is: to go our own way." First, concentrate on your own homework. Germany needs a strong national bank, said Sewing. "That's us. We have recovered really well and that's why we can take this place." Sewing also says: "Europe must become our home market. This requires large European banks." That could mean "in the long run", "that we see bank consolidation".
.