Best annual start since 2011: Commerzbank surprised with a leap

Commerzbank put a surprisingly strong start to the year in its defensive fight against Unicredit. 834 million euros profit has meant the best quarterly result since the beginning of 2011, as the Frankfurt Dax group announced.

Thanks to higher revenue from day -to -day business, Commerzbank made burdens from the dismantling of thousands, increased personnel costs and sunken interest income. CEO Bettina Orlopp continues to expect a profit of around 2.4 billion euros in the year as a whole. Without the special loads from the job cuts, it should be 2.8 billion euros.

A year ago, 747 million euros were in the books at the end of March. In 2024, Commerzbank achieved a record gain of almost 2.7 billion euros.

Nevertheless, the bank will cut around 3,900 full -time positions, 3,300 of them in Germany by the end of 2027. Because the Polish daughter Mbank and low -wage locations in Asia are also created, the staff in the group should remain largely constant at 36,700 full -time forces worldwide.

Fight for independence

The dismantling of more expensive positions is intended to make Commerzbank earn more money in the next few years – and its shareholders will remain true to it instead of selling shares in Italian UniCredit.

In September, Unicredit had used the federal government’s part in the Commerzbank, which has been partially nationalized since the financial crisis in 2008/2009, and had entered Germany’s second largest private bank on a large scale. Unicredit boss Andrea Orcel has been promoting Commerzbank for months to make Commerzbank into part of the Italian financial group.

Great resistance to Unicredit plans

However, it is uncertain whether the takeover will actually come: Both the Commerzbank leadership and the employee representatives vehemently defend themselves against the “enemy” request of orcels in their view. The federal government also holds a little more than twelve percent at Commerzbank.

At the Commerzbank general meeting next Thursday (May 15th) in Wiesbaden, the general works council and the Verdi trade union want to support the protest against a takeover.