Munich – Looming defaults due to the Corona crisis caused Deutsche Pfandbriefbank (PBB) profits to fall further in the second quarter. Because the bank set aside an additional 36 million euros for loans at risk, net profit fell 64% year-on-year to 21 million euros, as the institute, which recently relegated to the SDax index, announced Wednesday in Munich. After PBB was only left in the dark for the first quarter, CEO Andreas Arndt still does not dare to make any concrete profit forecasts for 2020. He expects a “solid” result, however.
The growth of new business in the second half of the year and higher margins on new business should also contribute. PBB withdrew its initial profit forecast in early May. In view of the dividend, shareholders will have to be patient. The bank is following the latest recommendation from the European Central Bank (ECB) to suspend dividend payments until January 2021.