German bank Deutsche Bank AG on Thursday reported a big loss of €6.8 billion ($7.2 billion) in 2015. Co-CEO John Cryan and Jurgen Fitschen announced that management board will not receive the bonus as the result of loss.
Deutsche Bank is one the largest European bank operating in over 70 countries and regarded as the most respected bank in Germany. On Thursday, the bank reported its 2015 performance as the first full-year loss since 2008 financial crisis. According to Wall Street Journal, weakness in its investment bank has added the burdens of mounting legal and restructuring costs in the Frankfurt-based bank.
Combination of litigation charges, reorganization and restructuring challenges, along with investment banking low-performance are the main reasons the bank has to face its first full-year loss in 7 years. Its fourth-quarter revenue was down 15% from the same period to €6.6 billion ($7.17 billion), with net loss of €2.1 billion ($2.29 billion).
Last October, the Germany's biggest bank announced a major reorganization and restructuring plans. Deutsche Bank pulled out its operation in 10 countries and reduced its workforce drastically. It also announced the plan to reduce the number of clients to half of its current ones in investment banking business.
Although its full-year revenue made a total €33.5 billion ($36.6 billion), the bank reported a full-year net loss of €6.8 billion ($7.2 billion). Mounting legal and restructuring cost generated a negative result to its performance in 2015, as higher regulatory and litigation costs contributed to the loss. During fourth quarter, the bank must spend €1.2 billion ($1.31 billion) in litigation charges alone.
As for investment banking unit, Deutsche Bank reported a pre-tax loss of €1.15 billion in the fourth quarter. The revenue generated by investment banking unit was down 30% year-on-year as its bond trading business perform poorly.
CEO decided that bank management would take responsibility with the loss. According to Bloomberg, CEO John Cryan told reporters in Frankfurt that the management board members won't receive bonuses for 2015.
During a press conference, as CNBC reported, CEO John Cryan told reporter about the loss, "In 2015 we made considerable progress on the implementation of our strategy. The much-needed decisions we took in the second half of the year contributed to a net loss for the fourth quarter and full year."
Regarding plan for year 2016, CEO Cryan said, "We are focused on 2016 and continue to work hard to clear up our legacy issues. Restructuring work and investment in our platform will continue throughout the year."
Deutsche Bank booked a loss of €6.8 billion ($7.2 billion) for the year 2015. With the result, co-CEO John Cryan and Juergen Fitschen announced the management board will not receive their annual bonus.
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