Germany's Deutsche Bank AG on Thursday, Jan. 29, earned some investor goodwill by posting fourth-quarter results that were far better than expected as it continues to work on a high-profile overhaul. Frankfurt-based Deutsche, Germany's largest listed bank, said it recovered to a net profit of €438 million ($495.4 million) in the final quarter after a €1.36 billion loss in the same period a year earlier thanks to declining legal costs. Analysts had been expecting another steep loss after an underwhelming two years in which the bank has been hobbled by litigation. But Deutsche co-CEOs Jürgen Fitschen and Anshu Jain both dodged questions about the long-awaited restructuring on calls with journalists and analysts. The pair said they will cling to their strategy of a universal bank and haven't yet begun parceling out units – such as the Deutsche Postbank AG retail lender – for sale. "If we look at the numbers, we can see that we're capable of creating earnings in a difficult environment. There's no reason to stop moving forward with the integration [of Postbank] because there isn't yet a decision on our strategic review, as we've already said," Fitschen said. Deutsche in December announced a strategic review following a report that Postbank was up for sale as its parent strives to cut costs and free up cash. Jain said the review was especially difficult because Deutsche has already offloaded assets that were easy to jettison. Postbank CEO Frank Strauss favors a listing, though the parent is already in talks to sell Postbank to Banco Santander SA, according to WirtschaftsWoche. Strauss was once the CEO of Deutsche's DB24 retail bank, which it founded in 1999 for its retail customers and had hoped to list but eventually reabsorbed. Deutsche took Postbank private in 2010 for €3.9 billion. "They're making good progress in leverage and in increasing their capital," wrote Credit Suisse Group analyst Carla Antunes da Silva in a note. She has an outperform rating on the stock. The shares rose 3.6%, or €0.90, to €26.05 in mid-day Frankfurt trade. Read more from:
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