Deutsche Bank has reported a fourth-quarter net profit of €436 million today in line with market consensus and has raised its 2003 dividend.
Germany's biggest bank posted a net profit of €576 million in the third quarter. It said it would pay shareholders a dividend of €1.50 a share for 2003, up from €1.30 in 2002.
A source told Reuters earlier today that Deutsche had held exploratory talks last month about a takeover by US giant Citigroup, the world's largest bank. "The talks were warmed up but have cooled down again," a source said.
The Financial Timesreported earlier that Deutsche Bank had broken off the talks because it believed a deal would be politically impossible.
Deutsche gave no forecast for 2004. Its shares have dropped 4 per cent since January 1st, while Europe's banking sector has risen 1.3 per cent in the same time.
Deutsche, which runs a private and corporate clients business but makes most of its money in international investment banking, said fourth-quarter pretax profit slid to €676 million from €755 million in the third quarter.
It ended the full-year 2003 with a net profit of €1.4 billion and posted a pretax profit of €2.8 billion, both in line with the average of analyst forecasts.