Source: Sharecast
Germany’s second-largest listed bank said first-quarter net profit rose 9.4% year on year to €913m, ahead of the €868m consensus forecast published by the bank.
It also lifted its full-year profit guidance to at least €3.4bn, up from a previous target of more than €3.2bn.
The lender set out more ambitious medium-term targets, including revenue of €15bn and net profit of €4.6bn by 2028, compared with previous goals of €14.2bn and €4.2bn respectively.
It also raised its return on tangible equity target to 17% for 2028 and 21% for 2030.
Commerzbank said it would cut a further 3,000 jobs to support the plan, on top of 3,900 gross reductions already announced through 2028.
The bank expected to book about €450m of restructuring costs linked to the latest round of cuts.
It had already shed around 10,000 roles, or about a third of its German workforce, earlier in the decade.
The upgraded plan was aimed at convincing investors that Commerzbank could create more value as a standalone bank than under UniCredit, which formally launched its takeover offer this week.
The Italian lender’s all-share bid valued Commerzbank at about €37bn, but was pitched below the German bank’s current market price and was designed to lift UniCredit’s holding just above 30% rather than secure immediate control.
Commerzbank criticised UniCredit’s approach, saying: “UniCredit’s communicated plan remains vague and bears considerable execution risks, while using misleading narratives that discredit Commerzbank.”
UniCredit argued that Commerzbank was not reaching its potential and that a larger cross-border bank would be better placed to compete in a more uncertain geopolitical environment.
Chief executive Andrea Orcel outlined a separate restructuring plan for Commerzbank that would target €1.3bn of cost efficiencies and about 7,000 job cuts in the event of a merger, or 5,000 cuts if Commerzbank remained independent but adopted UniCredit’s proposals.
Orlopp told Bloomberg TV that UniCredit’s alternative plan implied 7,000 job cuts in about six months and could damage the franchise.
“You risk to lose a lot of revenues, to lose a lot of momentum we currently have,” she said.
UniCredit is Commerzbank’s largest shareholder, with a stake of just under 30%, while the German government still owns more than 12% after rescuing the bank during the financial crisis.
Berlin opposed the Italian bank’s approach, though its legal options to block a compelling takeover offer were limited.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz criticised the bid on Thursday, saying Germany rejected hostile and aggressive takeovers in banking.
At 1209 CEST (1109 BST), shares in Commerzbank were down 1.22% in Frankfurt at €36.47.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.