Stefan Krause
Analyst · JPMorgan
Thank you, Anshu, and good morning, and thanks for joining us. Let's start with the highlights of the quarter. If you turn to Page 1, group income before income taxes, you can see, was EUR 917 million, 16% higher from the second quarter last year. Core Bank IBIT increased by 2% to EUR 1.5 billion. The estimated fully loaded Core Tier 1 ratio was 11.5%, and our leverage ratio was 3.4% on a fully loaded basis. On an adjusted basis, the ratio stands at 4.1%, 90 basis points up versus end of March. By the way, from this quarter on, we will change our reporting and use the fully loaded leverage ratio on a going-forward basis. Let me turn to Page 2. This slide, as you can see, illustrates the underlying results of our Core Bank in the quarter of EUR 2.4 billion, in line with last year's quarter. We are now at EUR 5 billion pretax adjusted IBIT for the Core Bank within the first half year of 2014. I think this reflects the underlying earnings power of our platform. But let me address now some key current themes, capital leverage and litigations, before moving on to the group and segment results. So let's turn to Page 4. As you can see, our capital raise increased our key ratios, created capacity for further business development and gave us a buffer for a number of uncertainties, including, obviously, the prudential evaluation where we retain our past estimate of potential impact but the precise impact and timing remain uncertain; CVA, RWA, where the new technical standards must be implemented; potential incremental capital requirements from the transition to a single regulator this year, here, we have no specific known items that may impact capital, but are cognizant that there could be incremental issues arising as the ECB takes over, possibly resulting from harmonization across Europe or from regulatory conservatism, which may differ from IFRS accounting standards; potential capital impact from AQR and stress tests, if any, which we will have greater certainty about in the fall; and last, but not least, the expected significant increases in operational risk RWA due to the industry-wide litigation settlements and continued regulatory focus on operational risks. The net impact is that we do anticipate some decline in our Core Tier 1 ratio in coming quarters and to the extent our reported capital is impacted, our CRD4 leverage ratio, before it picks up again due to our retained earnings momentum. Let me now give you more details on our solvency and leverage ratio movements in the quarter. Page 5. We illustrate the trends in Core Tier 1 and capital, as you’re accustomed, our Common Tier cap 1 capital increased by EUR 10.7 billion from the first quarter 2014. The increase principally reflects gross proceeds from our share issuance of EUR 8.5 billion and, obviously, a further EUR 1.3 billion for the related 10/15% effect, net of issuance cost and dividend accruals for the newly issued shares. The remaining EUR 900 million increase includes a number of items as illustrated, starting with positive contributions from lower DTA-related deductions as a result of positive taxable income, lower other capital deduction items and a positive FX effect, as well as net income. On the other side, dividend accruals and unrealized gains and losses, including a capital charge taking on a specific NCOU asset, lowered our Core Tier 1 capital by EUR 0.5 billion in the quarter. RWA increased by EUR 25 billion, including EUR 3.7 billion in relation to the capital raised and EUR 1.5 billion from FX effect. The largest increase was EUR 7.8 billion related to operational risk RWA. Principally, all the model and methodology changes in CVA, RWA were higher by EUR 4.9 billion, including a regulatory adjustment of EUR 2.5 billion. Taken together, this means just over EUR 10 billion rule-related RWA increases for this quarter. That said, credit risk RWA increased by EUR 2.7 billion with CB&S being the main driver, and market risk RWA were up by EUR 4.6 billion, primarily relating to trading book securitizations. Now let me turn a little bit more in detail to leverage on Page 6. The quarterly increase in our CRD4 fully loaded Tier 1 capital mirrors those in our Core Tier 1 capital, most notably our equity raised, but also includes the EUR 3.5 billion proceeds from our successful additional Tier 1 issuance. On the exposures side, we saw an increase of EUR 24 billion over the quarter or EUR 15 billion, excluding effects. When looking at this increase you should consider that the EUR 8.5 billion proceeds, or the large majority of the EUR 8.5 billion proceeds from our capital raise, came in right on the last days of the quarter. That said, we saw reductions in NCOU and derivatives, which, however, were more than offset by increases in trading inventory and cash and other assets. Here, we also saw increased client balances being placed with us. All said, we regretfully had a miss of our internal targets, and you should read this quarter's development in no way as a change in our stated objective to continue our tight balance sheet discipline. For the second half of 2014, we clearly expect to realize further reductions in our leverage exposure and remain well on track to deliver against our 3.5% target for 2015. We move on to Page 7. As you can see, we increased our litigation reserves to EUR 2.2 billion and the contingent liabilities to EUR 3.2 billion in the second quarter of 2014, reflecting principally the potential impact to the bank of recent settlements by others. In the second quarter, we booked approximately EUR 450 million of additional litigation provisions, roughly 25% below our provisions of last year. We are monitoring our legal cases very closely and ensure that all matters are at all times appropriately reflected. It is in our interest to resolve these matters as swiftly as possible. However, there is significant uncertainty as of the timing and size of potential litigation impact beyond our influence. So let me now turn to group results on Page 9. You see that our group revenues were down EUR 355 million versus the same period last year, and this was mainly driven by a nonrecurring item in NCOU. I will discuss overall revenues in more detail in each one of the business division's sections. So let's turn to Page 10. Credit loss provisions decreased materially from the second quarter of 2013. A significant part of the reduction was from lower credit losses for IAS 39 reclassified assets and a specific gain from asset sales in NCOU. In our Core Bank, we continued to record very low levels of provisions for credit losses. These reflect, on the one hand, the current benign economic environment and, on the other hand, demonstrate the consistently strong credit quality of our books. Let me turn to costs on Page 11. Noninterest expenses, you can see, reduced by EUR 257 million from the second quarter of 2013 to EUR 6.7 billion in the second quarter of 2014, while litigation costs were about EUR 160 million below the second quarter of the previous year. This was partially offset by higher policyholder benefits and claims. Predominantly, the cost reduction was achieved in our adjusted cost base, which we see as our true operating cost base. Let me cover the details in the next page. If we look at Page 12, the adjusted cost base was approximately EUR 200 million lower than the same period in 2013. Our OpEx Program continues to deliver, and we realized savings of more than EUR 250 million in the second quarter. Our total OpEx savings life [ph] today accumulated EUR 2.6 billion. As highlighted last quarter, we continued to face higher costs related to regulatory audit and control requirements amounting to more than EUR 200 million in the quarter. These costs include the impact of approximately EUR 45 million from higher compensation costs related to the new CRD4 compensation rules. We estimate the full year impact of CRD4 compensation expenses to be more or less around the EUR 300 million. Furthermore, we achieved about EUR 100 million additional cost reductions, for example, from the deconsolidation of BHF. As I indicated in the first quarter results call, we expect our full year 2014 adjusted cost base to remain roughly flat versus 2013 despite the regulatory headwinds, as we are confident to reach the targeted accumulated OpEx savings of EUR 2.9 billion by the end of 2014. There have been press rumors about an extension of this OpEx Program which are not accurate. According to our plan, the OpEx initiative allows us to achieve our cost-to-income ratio target of 65%. As part of our new culture, ongoing cost focus, of course, will remain an integral part of DB. So let me move on to Slide 13. And here, you can see our pretax profit was EUR 917 million. Our net income in the quarter was EUR 238 million. Our effective tax rate continues to be negatively impacted by nondeductible litigation expenses. In addition, this quarter's income tax expense also reflects adjustments for income taxes of prior periods. Absent those one-offs, we expect the effective tax rate to be between 30% to 35%. On Page 14, you see our reported group post-tax RoE for the first half year was 4.7%. The Core Bank's adjusted post-tax return on average equity, applying a tax rate of 35%, was 13.4%, which highlights the strength of our underlying franchise. So let me go on to segment results now. Let me start with CB&S on Page 16. As you can see, CB&S had strong results in the quarter, particularly relative to peers who have reported thus far. Revenues were flat year-on-year despite challenging trading conditions in key products, and IBIT increased 17% as a result of lower expenses. These results are -- also underscore the improvements we are achieving in CB&S efficiency, as the stable revenues and improved IBIT were achieved despite lower assets and headcount over the last year. Adjusted costs in CB&S, which exclude cost-to-achieve and litigation, were also lower despite higher regulatory-related costs and ongoing investment and platform enhancements, which reflect the solid progress we are achieving on our cost reduction program. The adjusted post tax RoE for the first half of 2014 meets our targeted returns for CB&S, but we will continue to dynamically optimize resources in CB&S going forward. Move on to Page 17. As you can see, our Debt Sales & Trading revenues held up well despite a clearly challenging FIC market in the second quarter. Macro products like foreign exchange and rates revenues were lower and were particularly affected by low volumes, historically low levels of volatility and the reduced risk appetite by clients in the quarter. However, debt was offset by strong performance in a number of credit businesses, in particular, in Credit Solutions. RMBS and Flow Credit also had good performances versus a difficult second quarter of 2014. The results this quarter underscore the breadth and diversity of our fixed income business with strong franchises in key businesses and geographies. We move on to equities. We had -- also had a good result despite a challenging operating environment of low volatility and volumes -- and a challenging comparison as the second quarter of '13 was a very strong quarter. Cash Equities was resilient despite low volume. Equity Derivatives were down largely because of reduced volatility. Prime Finance revenues were slightly up year-on-year as higher client balances were offset by lower spread. Page 18, you see that DB's Global Corporate Finance revenue increased 10% year-on-year, driven by both slightly higher fee pool and market share gain. DB ranked #5 in Global Corporate Finance based on Dealogic fees, with a record 5.6% market share in the first half of 2014. In the second quarter, DB ranked #4 in terms of market share. In EMEA, DB ranked #1 with a 7.9% market share. In M&A, revenues were up 18% year-on-year as we consolidated our market-leading position in Europe and made significant market share gains in the U.S. Our ECM revenues increased 30% year-on-year, driven by a strong deal flow especially in Europe. This was our strongest quarter since the fourth quarter of 2010. We ranked #5 globally in ECM at the end of the second quarter 2014 with a 5.2% market share. High yields saw a record issuance in the second quarter of 2014 after a weak first quarter. DB ranked #2 in high yield at the end of the quarter with an 8.7% market share. Move on to Page 19. As you can see, PBC also delivered a solid IBIT of EUR 403 million in the second quarter. Adjusted for cost-to-achieve, the pretax profit was EUR 497 million. The reported IBIT decrease for prior year second quarter was for one-off items last year of about EUR 100 million. Also, the decline from the previous quarter is largely due to a one-off gain of EUR 70 million in the first quarter of 2014. Lending revenues went up year-on-year, partially driven by solid volume growth. We are pleased that deposit revenues were resilient despite margin pressure from ongoing lower interest rates. Cost-to-achieve decreased compared to the second quarter of 2013 and first quarter of 2014, but is yet expected to increase in the second half of this year. Let me quickly run you through PBC's divisions on Page 20. Private & Commercial Banking showed stable revenues compared to prior year second quarter, largely benefiting from strong credit product revenues and also increased revenues from investment and insurance businesses. The IBIT decline as of the first quarter of 2014 was mainly driven by a one-off gain in prior quarter and seasonally lower investment and insurance income. The IBIT development in Postbank was influenced by nonoperating effects. Lending revenues increased, offset by lower deposit revenues due to the ongoing strategic volume reduction in Postbank. Advisory Banking International delivered a very stable IBIT development as the second quarter of 2014 was significantly higher due to a release from the Hua Xia Bank credit card cooperation, as you may remember. As you are aware, Advisory Banking International revenues are, to a large extent, driven by our investment in Hua Xia Bank. So we move on Page 21 to GTB. Our GTB business has been facing a significant change in the market environment since the Investor Day in 2012. Low interest rates, highly competitive margins and adverse FX movements significantly impact the top line, while the underlying business trend is very encouraging with volume growth counterbalancing the impact of external sectors to a great extent so far. In this environment, GTB revenues were stable year-over-year, even though the second quarter of 2013 included a gain from the sale of our Deutsche Card Services businesses. The increase in provision for credit losses quarter-over-quarter is primarily related to a higher provisions in the commercial banking activities in the Netherlands. Noninterest expenses were affected by a litigation-related charge, driving the year-over-year increase. Furthermore, we invested in platforms to enable business growth and increased expenses to comply with regulatory requirements. Page 22, I turn to Asset & Wealth Management. Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management delivered an IBIT of EUR 204 million in the second quarter. Excluding cost-to-achieve litigation and impairments, the IBIT was EUR 298 million. This quarter was the strongest in terms of net flows with roughly EUR 11 billion mainly into higher-margin businesses. Revenues developed positively versus prior quarter and last year, mainly benefiting from an increase in management fees and growing recurrent revenues. Furthermore, the disciplined execution of our efficiency program and portfolio optimization measures are positively impacting the cost base. Adjusted cost decreased by 2% year-over-year. On Page 23, I cover the NCOU. As you can see, the NCOU reduced CRD4, RWAs by more than EUR 2 billion at a net gain, demonstrating success at ongoing derisking. From a leverage perspective, the balance sheet has also been reduced by a further 7%, mainly from asset sales. In terms of financial performance, the net revenue line included a EUR 300 million loss from the restructuring of Maher Terminals' debt in the period. Excluding this impact, the second quarter results represent a relatively benign quarter for the NCOU. One driver is that litigation costs remained benign for this quarter. However, we expect the environment to remain a challenge whilst legacy matters are being resolved. We will provide more detail on the IBIT performance in the Appendix that you can then refer to. If we look at Page 24, and you looked at derisking activity for the second quarter. We have completed specific CRE asset sales as there is further risk reduction in the credit correlation book. However, in terms of RWAs, this positive impact from derisking was partially offset by other factors, mainly an increase in our market risk RWA calculations. From a leverage perspective, the NCOU has progressed significantly against the reduction targets we set this time last year, and we will continue to focus on balance sheet reduction over the coming quarter. Now let's turn to the last page, Consolidation & Adjustments. As you can see, Consolidation & Adjustments reported a pretax loss of EUR 223 million in the second quarter of 2014 compared to EUR 205 million in the prior year period. This includes internal costs related to our capital increase in the second quarter of 2014. Before we are moving to the Q&A part of our call, let me comment on our regulatory reporting in the U.S. in light of some media reports of the past days. Like many of our peers, we are investing heavily into the systems and processes we need to ensure that we fulfill our regulatory reporting requirements. As we've stated, we are investing EUR 1 billion to ensure our systems and controls are best-in-class. We're dedicating 1,300 people to the effort, including around 500 being hired in the U.S. this year. We're building a long-term sustainable strategic architecture to meet this requirement. By its nature, debt architecture is complex and will take time to complete. Nonetheless, we are confident that the program we have in place will fully address our regulatory reporting requirements within the necessary time frame. That said, please keep in mind that these statements refer exclusively to our regulatory reporting requirements. Our financial reporting has always been reliable and accurate. With that, Anshu and I would be delighted to take your questions.