Deutsche Bank: 3Q profit expected to be EUR1.4B

Deutsche Bank AG said Wednesday its third-quarter net profit expected to be EUR1.4 billion (US$1.98 billion), better than a year ago, thanks to gains from asset sales and tax credits that help offset losses related to the U.S. subprime crisis.

The news sent Deutsche Bank shares up rose 2.83 percent to EUR96.17 (US$136.22) in afternoon trading to lead the Frankfurt DAX.

Germany's biggest bank said in a statement that it would take a charge of as much as EUR700 million (US$991.6 million) on its leveraged loans and loan commitments, in addition to the EUR1.6 billion (US$2.27 billion) it took in the second quarter.

The troubles at Deutsche Bank underscore the widespread impact of failed U.S. loans to people with weak credit. Similar writedowns are hurting other big banks, including Citigroup and UBS, though analysts believe that investors and not account holders will feel most of the pain.

Deutsche Bank said third-quarter profit is still expected to reach EUR1.4 billion (US$1.98 billion) because of tax credits, and reiterated its goal of posting a pretax profit of EUR8.4 billion (US$11.9 billion) in 2008.

"Despite a challenging quarter for our investment banking franchise, our 'stable' businesses continue to perform well," Chief Executive Josef Ackermann said in a statement. "We see substantial opportunities in investment banking after this period of correction. Therefore, we stay the course and remain committed to our publicly stated financial targets for 2008."

The bank is scheduled to release its third-quarter results on Oct. 31.

The credit market turmoil began with rising defaults in the United States on subprime mortgages, but spread because banks had repackaged those loans with more reliable ones and sold them to a wide range of investors, including several European banks. Credit dried up in early August, roiling financial markets, as banks became wary of exposure to the risky loans.

On Monday, U.S.-based Citigroup Inc. and Switzerland-based UBS AG warned that they suffered significant loan-related losses in the third quarter, then the latest and biggest banks to reveal huge ill effects from the crisis.

Credit Suisse said the same day that its investment banking and asset management results had been hurt "by recent market events," but gave no specific figures. It announced last week that it was laying off 150 employees, mainly from its mortgage-backed securities unit, as a result of market turmoil caused by the crisis. It said Wednesday it was cutting 170 more jobs.