Deutsche Bank Q1 earnings fall to USD 610M, hurt by penalties

Deutsche Bank says net profit fell to USD 610 million in the first quarter as legal penalties ate into stronger revenues from trading stocks and bonds. Profits were down from 1.103 billion euros in the year-ago quarter.
The bank had to deduct an additional 1.5 billion euros from earnings to account for penalties it has agreed to pay to authorities in the US and Britain to settle investigations into the bank's role in rigging key interest rate benchmarks and other matters.
The bank said Sunday that revenue rose in the quarter by 24 percent from a year ago, to 10.4 billion euros. The bank credited stronger income from stock and bond trading and more robust financial markets. Favorable shifts in currency exchange rates also helped.

Last week the bank said that it had agreed to pay penalties of USD 2.175 billion to the US Justice Department, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the New York Department of Financial Services to settle the rate-rigging investigation.
It also agreed to pay USD 344.7 million to Britain's Financial Conduct Authority.
Late on Friday, the bank announced a reorganization that will see it spin off its Postbank branches in Germany and reduce the amount of borrowed money it uses to conduct its investment banking business.
More details are expected at a news conference scheduled for Monday.