Regaining market credibility will boost our share price, Deutsche Bank finance chief says
- The stock price is down about 41 percent since the start of the year.
- The bank reported third-quarter results on Wednesday, which came in below what the lender had reported in the same quarter a year ago.
The embattled German lender is hopeful that its works towards improving the balance sheet will revamp its market credibility and boost the stock price, Deutsche Bank's chief financial officer told CNBC on Wednesday.
Over the last few years, Deutsche Bank, Germany's largest lender, has struggled to convince investors amid litigation charges, higher competition; lower market share in investment and commercial banking, and a number of management reshuffles. The stock price is down about 41 percent since the start of the year.
"We have to work with building long-term value for the shareholders over time. We think as we regain credibility in the market place, we execute our plans, that will begin to show itself in the stock price," James von Moltke, CFO of Deutsche Bank told CNBC's Annette Weisbach.
"We are working towards that turnaround," he added.
Deutsche Bank's latest management change happened in April this year, bringing Christian Sewing from the commercial arm to chief executive. He has promised to deliver with further cost-cutting and make the bank profitable again.
The bank reported third-quarter results on Wednesday, which came in below what the lender had reported in the same quarter a year ago. Net income stood at 229 million euros ($262.71 million), which was 65 percent below what the bank reported in the third quarter of 2017.
There have been several media reports that Deutsche Bank could merge with its domestic rival, Commerzbank, to boost its domestic presence at home. However, last month Sewing told a banking conference in Frankfurt that he put boosting Deutsche Bank's profitability first.
Von Moltke told CNBC that Deutsche Bank is focused on its own home work and delivering the promises it made in April.
"What the finance minister has said was that Germany needs a strong bank that's able to accompany our exporters internationally and we feel that Deutsche Bank is already that bank," he said, in reference to previous remarks from Olaf Sholz, the German finance minister, saying that Germany needs strong banks.
At the time, some analysts interpreted Sholz's remarks as a change in sentiment among German policymakers towards having one big lender.