The second biggest German bank, Commerzbank, marked February 22 a rebound from heavy losses suffered during the global economic crisis as it posted a solid 2010 profit and pledged to start paying back state aid.
Commerzbank said it made a net profit of 1.43 billion euros ($1.96 billion) last year, compared with a loss of 4.5 billion euros in 2009 according to international standards known by their acronym GAAP.
In the fourth quarter of 2010, the partially state-owned bank recorded a net profit of 257 million euros, turning around a loss of 1.9 billion in the same period a year earlier, a statement said.
"2010 was a successful year for Commerzbank in many respects," it quoted chairman Martin Blessing as saying. "We have achieved key targets and the Commerzbank group has returned to profitability one year earlier than forecast."
The German government took a silent stake of 25 percent in the bank as it granted public aid of more than 18 billion euros to Commerzbank, including 16.2 billion via a market stabilisation fund known as SoFFin.
The bank could not do so last year because accounts established according to German accounting standards showed it with a net loss of 1.2 billion euros as a result of problems at its real-estate unit Eurohypo. Repayment of the state's silent participations are "based on rules for the payment of dividends," which that loss ruled out, Commerbank explained.
The bank was nonetheless clearly doing much better than in 2009, as it posted gross revenues of 12.7 billion euros, a gain of 16 percent from the year-earlier figure.
Operating profit climbed to 1.4 billion euros from a loss of 2.3 billion, while provisions taken against possible loan defaults fell by 40 percent to just under 2.5 billion euros.
Finally, Commerbank's Tier 1 ratio, a measure of its ability to weather unexpected losses, now stands at a healthy 11.9 percent, up from 10.5 percent in 2009.
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