Deutsche Bank shares drop on capital hike plan

FRANKFURT Shares in Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) fell almost 7 percent in early trading on Monday after the lender announced an 8 billion-euro ($8.48 billion) capital increase that Chief Executive John Cryan had previously declared a last resort.

The capital hike is its fourth since 2010. Together with a partial listing of the asset-management unit and a sale of other assets, the move should take its core capital ratio – a key measure for regulators – above 13 percent from 11.9 percent at end-2016.

Germany’s biggest lender, weighed down by litigation costs and writedowns, has fallen behind Wall Street rivals. It has spent the last 18 months trimming its portfolio, throwing out bad clients and trying to get its technology into shape.

“The question is whether this will be the last capital hike or whether the bank will need more yet again in a few years. Until now, none of the restructuring measures have borne fruit,” Stefan de Schutter, a trader at Frankfurt-based Alpha, said.

The new shares represent a dilution of a third for existing shareholders, who include 10 percent owner Qatar. Deutsche Bank shares had already fallen by more than 1 percent on Friday on media reports it was considering raising fresh capital.

By 0857 GMT on Monday, the shares were trading 5.4 percent lower at the bottom of the German blue-chip DAX .GDAXI, which was down 0.7 percent.

On Sunday, Deutsche Bank sketched out a strategy that included a reorganization of some of its businesses, the scrapping of a plan to sell its Postbank German retail bank and the promotion of two executives as deputy CEOs.

“We await more detail,” wrote analyst Magdalena Stoklosa of Morgan Stanley, which does not have a formal recommendation on Deutsche Bank stock because it is one of the underwriters of the rights issue.

“A credible integration of Postbank, further clarity of progress on investment banking restructuring… stabilization of outflows and restoring confidence in wealth and asset management businesses are all issues management would need to address.”

(Reporting by Hakan Ersen and Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Maria Sheahan)