Deutsche Bank surprised market observers by turning a profit of €206m for the first quarter of 2020. After taxes, that left it €66m further in the black than had been anticipated for Germany’s largest financial institution. The best most analysts had expected was a €338m loss for the period between January and March. The bank’s filing included other unforeseen results, including the fact that Deutsche Bank put €500m in reserves to cover potential loan defaults, which it was thought would amount to just €345m. Even that amount would have been €200m more than for the first quarter of 2019, a sign of how the shadow of recession continues to move over Germany. In all, the bank made earnings of €6.4bn, wrong-footing analysts who expected that the bank’s withdrawal from bond trading last summer. In an apparent effort to help out its clients as recession hits, DB handed out more loans than planned, meaning that tis core capital ratio fell from 13.6 percent to 12.8 percent.
