Commerzbank still expects net profit of more than €1 billion in 2022 despite additional provisions at mBank

Polish subsidiary books additional provisions for Swiss franc portfolio of the equivalent of €490 million
Operating result of Commerzbank in Q3 to be impacted by corresponding amount
Bettina Orlopp: “Despite the new burden in Poland, we are maintaining our earnings target for the full year 2022.”

Commerzbank continues to expect a net result of more than €1 billion for the financial year 2022, despite a further revenue burden at its Polish subsidiary mBank. The outlook remains under the assumption that the economic consequences of the geopolitical developments do not deteriorate significantly and the uncertainties around energy supply do not require material additional provisions for potential future credit losses.

mBank had previously announced that it has booked further additional provisions for its Swiss franc portfolio of PLN2.336 billion (approximately €490 million) as a result of the announced model review. The total provisions for credit agreements indexed on foreign currencies now amount to around €1.43 billion. The additional provisions will have a corresponding negative impact on Commerzbank's results in the third quarter which will be booked as negative revenues in “Other net income”. mBank also announced a new settlement programme to reach individual agreements with customers.

The new burden adds to the negative revenues which were already announced for the third quarter in July this year due to possible deferrals of interest and repayment of private real estate financing (“payment holidays”) introduced in Poland by the legislation. Nevertheless, Commerzbank expects a positive operating result for the third quarter for the Group as long as the uncertainties about energy supply do not require a further significant risk provisioning.

“Despite the new burden in Poland, we are maintaining our earnings target for the full year 2022 in view of the strong overall revenue development,” said Bettina Orlopp, Chief Financial Officer of Commerzbank. “With the additional provision, mBank has further scope for settlements in its Swiss franc portfolio.”

About Commerzbank

Commerzbank is the leading bank for the German Mittelstand and a strong partner for around 28,000 corporate client groups and around 11 million private and small-business customers in Germany. The Bank’s two Business Segments – Private and Small-Business Customers and Corporate Clients – offer a comprehensive portfolio of financial services. Commerzbank transacts approximately 30 per cent of Germany’s foreign trade and is present internationally in almost 40 countries in the corporate clients’ business. The Bank focusses on the German Mittelstand, large corporates, and institutional clients. As part of its international business, Commerzbank supports clients with German connectivity and companies operating in selected future-oriented industries. Following the integration of Comdirect, private and small-business customers benefit from the services offered by one of Germany’s most advanced online banks combined with personal advisory support on site. Its Polish subsidiary mBank S.A. is an innovative digital bank that serves approximately 5.6 million private and corporate customers, predominantly in Poland, but also in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In 2021, Commerzbank generated gross revenues of some €8.5 billion with around 46,500 employees.

Disclaimer

This release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. In this release, these statements concern inter alia the expected future business of Commerzbank, efficiency gains and expected synergies, expected growth prospects and other opportunities for an increase in value of Commerzbank as well as expected future financial results, restructuring costs and other financial developments and information. These forward-looking statements are based on the management’s current plans, expectations, estimates and projections. They are subject to a number of assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results and developments to differ materially from any future results and developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include the conditions in the financial markets in Germany, in Europe, in the USA and other regions from which Commerzbank derives a substantial portion of its revenues and in which Commerzbank holds a substantial portion of its assets, the development of asset prices and market volatility, especially due to the ongoing European debt crisis, potential defaults of borrowers or trading counterparties, the implementation of its strategic initiatives to improve its business model, the reliability of its risk management policies, procedures and methods, risks arising as a result of regulatory change and other risks. Forward-looking statements therefore speak only as of the date they are made. Commerzbank has no obligation to update or release any revisions to the forward-looking statements contained in this release to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release.