FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Germany’s Commerzbank said on Wednesday that it swung to a bigger-than-expected second-quarter net profit, helped by higher interest rates, and confirmed it was on track to meet its profit target this year.
Net profit of 470 million euros ($478.60 million) compares with a loss of 527 million euros a year earlier. Analysts had on average expected a profit of 370 million euros, according to a consensus forecast published by Commerzbank.
The return to profit at Germany’s No. 2 bank is a victory for CEO Manfred Knof, who joined the company at the start of 2021 to carry out a 2 billion euro restructuring programme involving hundreds of branch closures and 10,000 job cuts to get back on a sustainable path.
“We are well equipped for upcoming challenges,” said Bettina Orlopp, chief financial officer of Commerzbank.
During the same period last year, the German lender generated a loss due to its restructuring and after a write-off to end an outsourcing project.
($1 = 0.9820 euros)
(Reporting by Tom Sims and Marta Orosz, editing by Rachel More)
