Highest annual profit since 2007, first dividend after three rounds of zero: There is good news for Commerzbank shareholders again.
Commerzbank gets the fourth head of the supervisory board within three years: the former Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann (55) is to be elected the new chairman of the control committee after the general meeting on Wednesday. In view of the majority situation, it is certain that the shareholders will first elect the doctorate in economics to the supervisory board: the federal government is the largest single shareholder of the institute, which returned to the Dax at the end of February.
The outgoing chairman of the supervisory board, Helmut Gottschalk (71), made it public in November that he would no longer be running for reasons of age and, in consultation with the Federal Ministry of Finance, would propose Weidmann as his successor. Gottschalk took over the chairmanship of the supervisory board in April 2021 from the sick Hans-Jörg Vetter. His predecessor Stefan Schmittmann gave up Cerberus in the summer of 2020 after harsh criticism from the US financial investor.
Youngest Bundesbank President of all time
Weidmann knows Commerzbank, which is now partially nationalized, from difficult times: When the institute took over Dresdner Bank during the financial crisis of 2008/2009 and had to be saved from collapsing with billions in taxes, Weidmann was one of the leading advisors to the then Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) Head of the Economic and Financial Policy Department in the Chancellery. Born in Solingen, he belonged to the group of top officials who put together rescue packages for struggling banks.
In May 2011, at the age of 43, Weidmann became the youngest Bundesbank president of all time to take over the post at the central bank in Frankfurt from Axel Weber, who had thrown it down in the dispute over the European Central Bank’s (ECB) anti-crisis policy. Weidmann also always warned against excessive monetary policy. He set the course for the career change at the end of 2021: Weidmann resigned as Bundesbank President on December 31, 2021.
Business at Commerzbank has recently been better again, also boosted by the turnaround in interest rates. Last year, Commerzbank earned more than 1.4 billion euros since 2007. After a jump in profits in the first quarter of 2023, CEO Manfred Knof confirmed at the Annual General Meeting that he intends to significantly increase the surplus in the current year.
There should be a dividend again
Gottschalk is handing over to his successor “a bank with potential whose restructuring is making good progress but is not yet complete,” said fund manager Alexandra Annecke from Union Investment, according to the text of the speech. She warned: “Commerzbank is not running on autopilot. The tailwind from the turnaround in interest rates will not last forever, the Polish subsidiary mBank can cause further burdens and profitability is still not sufficient. There is still a lot to do so that the share can can realize upside potential.”
But better times should also be dawning for the shareholders of the money house: the general meeting, which will again be held online, votes on the payment of a dividend of 20 cents per share. This third profit distribution of the institute since the rescue in the financial crisis should only be the beginning according to the will of the board.
Source: Stern
