Frank Siebelt and Tom Sims

FRANKFURT, (Reuters) –Commerzbank posted a stronger-than-expected fourth quarter and an annual net profit despite undergoing a significant overhaul. The German lender also offered a positive outlook for 2022.

Commerzbank, DE: said that this year’s profit would surpass 1 billion euros ($1.14 trillion), beating analysts forecasts. The bank also stated that the company would pay an annual dividend.

Revenue from CommerzVentures’ venture capital funds and commissions earned through its securities trading business were both a part of the company’s success.

Germany’s No. 2 bank had a positive year. Manfred Knof joined 2 bank in 2021 as Chief Executive Officer to oversee a restructuring plan that would cost 2 billion euros. This programme involved closing hundreds of branches and slashing 10,000 jobs to make the bank profitable again.

“We have fulfilled our commitments in the first full year of this transformation. Knof stated that this increases our faith in our ability to achieve the ambitious 2024 goals.

The shares opened more than 2 percent higher.

Commerzbank reported a net profit of 421 million euro in its fourth quarter. This compares to a loss in revenue of 2.7billion euros for the same period last year due to restructuring costs.

According to Commerzbank’s consensus forecast, analysts had expected an average profit of 81 millions euros.

The bank made a profit of 430 millions euros for the year, against a loss in the previous year of 2.9 billion.

Quarterly was hit by the impact of a January announcement at Polish mBank that included a provision.

Analysts had predicted that the bank would post a profit in excess of 900 million euros for this year. This would have been its largest profit since 2015. Then, it will be followed by bigger wins in 2023.

($1 = 0.8807 euros)