Deutsche Bank AG share price down, posts improving profit amid legal uncertainty

Deutsche Bank AG, Europes largest investment bank, posted Q2 results today, to show growing profit, as the bank faces a number of legal issues, which could potentially hurt performance.

Income before taxes was reported to have risen 16% on an annual basis to €917 million, while net revenue was down 4% at €7.9 billion. On a quarterly basis, however, revenue dropped 13%, while profit before tax lost 45%, mainly due to higher noninterest expenses. Corporate banking and securities revenues were at €3.5 billion, while debt trading contributed €1.83 billion in revenue, both in line with Q2 of 2013.

“All our core businesses contributed to this result. In particular, Corporate Banking & Securities delivered robust revenues, growing profits, and for the second consecutive quarter, strong relative performance,” co-Chief Executives Anshu Jain and Jürgen Fitschen said in a statement.

Mixed results were posted in the costs section. Noninterest expenses dropped 4% on an annual basis and added the same amount on a quarterly basis, for a €6.7 billion figure.

“Costs were under control, so I think we’re beginning to see the benefits of some of the cost savings starting to come through,” Neil Smith, analyst with Bankhaus Lampe in Dusseldorf, said for Bloomberg.

Tax payments increased by a massive 49%, leading to a 29% net profit drop for a figure of €237 million. The bank said it payed a 73% tax rate for the quarter, up from about 50% for Q2 of 2013. The banks tax guidance, however, remained unchanged at 30-35%.

Contingent legal expenses were projected to probably rise, as the bank increased its reserves from €2 billion to €3.2 billion, reflecting a number of legal issues the lender currently faces.

The bank is still under investigation in relation with the LIBOR scandal, and just last week it was revealed that its US unit had been scrutinized by regulators over faulty and incomplete reports and internal auditing.

The banks legal expenses were about €3 billion last year alone, and more than €5 billion for the past two years for settlements and fines.

“There is significant uncertainty as to the timing and size of potential impacts. Accordingly, actual litigation costs for the balance of fiscal year 2014 are unpredictable,” Deutsche Bank said.

Deutsche Bank AG was down 0.62% to trade at €26.51 per share at 9:30 BST, giving it a market capitalization of €36.80 billion. Shares have dropped 22.59% for the past year. According to the Financial Times, 32 analysts offering 12 month price targets for Deutsche Bank AG have a median target of €32.24, with a high estimate of €59.13 and a low estimate of €24.00. The median estimate represents a 20.83% increase from the last price of €26.68.