Troubled German banking giant Deutsche Bank today asked for patience after reporting its second annual net loss in a row, saying it was laying the foundations for durable success in the future.
"The year 2016 was not a bad year," chief executive John Cryan insisted at a press conference in Frankfurt. "We made huge progress." "2016 was a year of small steps. But there were many of those small steps, even if most of them don't yet show up in the results," the CEO added, referring to the massive restructuring launched shortly after he took the helm in summer 2015.
Deutsche reported a net loss of 1.4 billion euros (USD 1.5 billion) for the year, struggling with the impact of mammoth fines, lower revenues and restructuring costs.
Like its rivals, Deutsche continues to face headwinds from low interest rates as well as increased regulation and higher capital requirements introduced in the wake of the financial crisis.
But the lender was also battered by a fresh series of fines in 2016 that took deep bites out of its result.
The result is worse than the 200 million euro loss forecast by analysts FactSet, but an improvement on the nearly seven-billion-euro loss recorded in 2015.
Looking beyond the net result, Deutsche saw revenues shrink by 10 per cent in 2016 compared with the previous year, at just over 30 billion euros.
Meanwhile, the bank's underlying, or operating result before interest and taxes was 810 million euros in the red.
Deutsche's result also continued to be burdened by provisions the bank has set aside to cover credit risks, which grew 45 per cent compared with 2015 to almost 1.4 billion euros.
Among other risks, Deutsche is exposed to the struggling shipping sector, which has been floundering since the 2008 financial crisis.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!