Deutsche Bank's UK institutional asset management unit suffered an outflow of funds again in the first quarter, while the bank's overall assets under management grew by 24 billion euros ($31 billion). The Asia-Pacific institutional asset management and the US retail businesses also reported fund outflows in the quarter to end-March, Deutsche Bank said on Friday, without providing details. The loss-making UK operation has been a drain on funds for several quarters in a row, leading Germany's largest bank to consider a sale among other options for the unit.
The group's assets grew overall mainly due to gains in continental Europe, which had net new fund inflows of 29 billion euros, including 24 billion to the institutional business and 5 billion to the retail operation.
Deutsche Bank said in February it had hired British advisers Hawkpoint to help with an assessment of the options for the loss-making UK business, which analysts have valued at about 400 million pounds ($761.6 million).
Deutsche Bank, which had initially hoped to tell investors with its first-quarter results whether it planned to sell its unit, has indicative offers from banks including Britain's Lloyds TSB and France's BNP Paribas, according to sources familiar with the situation.
South Africa's Old Mutual has also made an offer according to the Financial Times newspaper.
Deutsche Bank has declined to comment.
In the first quarter, pretax profit at the entire Private Clients and Asset Management (PCAM) division came out flat at 408 million euros in comparison with first quarter of 2004.
But the figure was up 12 percent in comparison with the last quarter of 2004, when invested assets in the asset management business fell 5.5 percent and the UK business accounted for 77 percent of the outflows.
Revenues in the division, with invested assets of 573 billion euros at end-March, were flat at 2.03 billion euros.
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