Latest news with #DekaInvestment
Reuters
22-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Deutsche Bank CEO calls 2025 a 'year of reckoning'
FRANKFURT, May 22 (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank ( opens new tab CEO Christian Sewing called 2025 a "year of reckoning" in remarks he planned to deliver on Thursday to shareholders demanding details on the path forward for Germany's largest lender. The bank's management and shareholders were facing off at Deutsche's annual general meeting with the lender in the final stretch of a three-year plan, attempting to meet a series of targets that some analysts deem overly ambitious. "We know how important 2025 is for us as a bank. It is the year of reckoning," Sewing planned to tell shareholders, according to a copy of his remarks released ahead of the speech. Among the targets, Deutsche Bank is aiming for a cost-to-income ratio of less than 65% and a so-called return on tangible equity - a key measure of profitability - of more than 10%. Analysts believe Deutsche Bank will miss both, based on a consensus forecast published this week by Deutsche. The bank is "clearly on track", Sewing was expected to say. Andreas Thomae of Deka Investment, also due to speak at the meeting on Thursday, was expected to call on Deutsche Bank to ensure a bigger share of profits come from stable business areas like the retail bank, rather than the volatile investment bank. As part of an overhaul in 2019, Deutsche Bank set out to rely less on revenue from the investment bank, but the results of that aim have been mixed. "You must finally deliver what you have been promising us for years," Thomae said, according to an advance copy of his remarks.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Deutsche Bank CEO calls 2025 a 'year of reckoning'
FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing called 2025 a "year of reckoning" in remarks he planned to deliver on Thursday to shareholders demanding details on the path forward for Germany's largest lender. The bank's management and shareholders were facing off at Deutsche's annual general meeting with the lender in the final stretch of a three-year plan, attempting to meet a series of targets that some analysts deem overly ambitious. "We know how important 2025 is for us as a bank. It is the year of reckoning," Sewing planned to tell shareholders, according to a copy of his remarks released ahead of the speech. Among the targets, Deutsche Bank is aiming for a cost-to-income ratio of less than 65% and a so-called return on tangible equity - a key measure of profitability - of more than 10%. Analysts believe Deutsche Bank will miss both, based on a consensus forecast published this week by Deutsche. The bank is "clearly on track", Sewing was expected to say. Andreas Thomae of Deka Investment, also due to speak at the meeting on Thursday, was expected to call on Deutsche Bank to ensure a bigger share of profits come from stable business areas like the retail bank, rather than the volatile investment bank. As part of an overhaul in 2019, Deutsche Bank set out to rely less on revenue from the investment bank, but the results of that aim have been mixed. "You must finally deliver what you have been promising us for years," Thomae said, according to an advance copy of his remarks.
Reuters
21-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Deutsche Bank must rely more on stable businesses for profits, investor Deka says
FRANKFURT, May 21 (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank ( opens new tab needs to ensure that a bigger share of its profits comes from stable business areas, rather than the volatile investment bank, a top shareholder said on Wednesday. Andreas Thomae of Deka Investment said Germany's largest lender should lift profits from its asset management, retail and corporate client divisions. "It is still investment banking, which is susceptible to fluctuations and entails higher risks, that accounts for the lion's share of profits. You have a lot of catching up to do, particularly in the retail business," Thomae said. The remarks are due to be delivered at Deutsche Bank's annual shareholder meeting on Thursday but were published in advance on Wednesday. As part of an overhaul in 2019, Deutsche Bank set out to rely less on revenue from the investment bank, but the results of that aim have been mixed.
Reuters
16-05-2025
- Automotive
- Reuters
Volkswagen shareholders demand carmaker reform 'highly problematic' governance
BERLIN, May 16 (Reuters) - Volkswagen's ( opens new tab shareholders renewed their criticism of the automaker's corporate governance on Friday, demanding greater board independence and expressing growing concern over the dominance of the German company's controlling families. At the carmaker's virtual annual general meeting, several major investors took aim at CEO Oliver Blume's dual role as head of both Volkswagen and Porsche AG (P911_p.DE), opens new tab, a contentious issue since Porsche's listing as a separate company in September 2022. "Mr Blume, once again we make the urgent appeal: give one of your board positions up," said Ingo Speich of Deka Investment, stating that conflicts of interest across the carmaker's governance structure were "highly problematic" and causing "grave damage to reputation and enormous financial losses." Volkswagen's share price has dropped by nearly 25% in the past year from 140.40 euros to 105.6 euros, underperforming the European autos index and Germany's DAX, according to LSEG data. The carmaker, which warned last month it would likely hit the bottom end of its annual profit margin forecast, is battling challenges in all its key markets, from steep tariffs in the United States to fierce competition in China and high costs in Europe. The Porsche and Piech families effectively control Volkswagen through their holding firm Porsche SE, which holds most of the voting rights in the Wolfsburg-based carmaker. Wolfgang Porsche, who leads the supervisory boards of both Porsche SE and sportscar maker Porsche AG, has previously dismissed the idea that poor governance is to blame for the carmaker's languishing share price, instead blaming weak performance and high costs. Still, four investors argued that a lack of expertise on the board in key competencies like electrification or digitalisation were holding the carmaker back. "The impression is becoming stronger that power, rather than the market, dominates at VW," said Hendrik Schmidt from asset manager DWS. Blume and supervisory board chair Hans Dieter Poetsch defended the CEO's dual role on Friday, saying it benefited cost-cutting efforts underway at both companies. "It was clear from the beginning that [my dual role] was not intended to last forever," Blume said. "The dual role is a recipe for success." Investors are not so sure. "Instead of shrugging off shareholder criticism year after year, you should finally address and remedy these blatant governance deficiencies before VW slides even deeper into crisis," said Janne Werning of Union Investment.
Bloomberg
23-04-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Top Bayer Investors Demand Plan to End Long-Running Crisis
Two prominent German investors voiced exasperation over Bayer AG 's recurring struggles, demanding a clearer path out of the conglomerate's crises ahead of the annual shareholder meeting on Friday. Deka Investment 's Ingo Speich characterized the current results of Chief Executive Officer Bill Anderson's two-year tenure as 'disastrous,' pointing to the falling stock price, stubbornly high debt levels and US legal problems. Once an icon of German industry, Bayer is now 'at a strategic dead end,' Speich said in prepared remarks ahead of the meeting. Deka is a top 20 investor in Bayer.
