The rating agency Fitch has upgraded Deutsche Bank's credit rating from “BBB” to “BBB +” due to progress in the restructuring of the group. The outlook remains positive, the agency said on Thursday. It expects the restructuring of the bank to continue. Not until August Moody's had raised the bank's rating to "A2" from "A3". A better rating leads to lower refinancing costs for banks.
The upgrade by Fitch is another milestone on the path of the bank's transformation, emphasized Deutsche Bank boss Christian Sewing in an internal letter to employees.
The decision of the rating agency allows the bank to continue to finance itself on favorable terms, underlined CFO James von Moltke.
There is also good news for German banks in other respects: For example, income in investment banking is likely to decline by ten percent in the third quarter.
But the comparative quarter was very strong, the analysts had expected a decline that was twice as high.
In addition, the Bafin has once again emphasized that the German banks are not facing any major direct risks from the turbulence surrounding the lurching property developer Evergrande.
Sewing is currently converting Germany's largest financial institution. The bank is cutting 18,000 jobs worldwide, closing branches and closing entire departments. Investment banking, which was previously responsible for losses in the billions, is supposed to deliver stable income. That should pay off: Among other things, the after-tax return in 2022 should be eight percent and the core capital ratio should be at least 12.5 percent. Moltke's CFO only confirmed the goals again in a video conference in the morning. All areas would be within the scope of the planning or above. The bank is sticking to its outlook this year despite additional expenses for the renovation of around 700 million euros. The conversion will also allow the bank to think about acquisitions again in the future.
Deutsche Bank published a profit of 692 million euros for the second quarter at the end of July.
It was the fourth quarterly profit in a row and the best interim result since 2015 for the once troubled bank.