Deutsche Bank posts first quarterly loss in five years

AFP, April, 2008

FRANKFURT (AFP) — Germany's biggest bank, Deutsche Bank, posted its first quarterly loss in five years on Tuesday as it wrote down 2.7 billion euros (4.2 billion dollars) in the value of assets as a result of the global financial crisis.

Net profit after minority holdings fell to a loss of 131 million euros from a profit of 2.121 billion in the same period a year earlier, the bank said in a statement.

Pretax earnings fell to a loss of 254 million euros from a profit of 3.163 billion euros, it added.

The bank's results were weighed down by 1.770 billion euros in mark-downs on leveraged loans and loan commitments and 885 million euros in mark-downs on commercial real estate loans and residential mortgage-backed securities.

Overall, the charges came to...