(Bloomberg) -- John Cryan envisions a time when Deutsche Bank AG could merge with a competitor.
“I don't think we're ready for it, but in future periods, that maybe the bank could look favorably on combining with others,” Cryan, the lender's chief executive officer, told reporters in Frankfurt on Friday. “I would never rule out doing something, not now, certainly not now.”
Mergers are one way European banks could lift profitability hammered by record low interest rates and a slump in trading revenue. The problem is that banks are strictly regulated and large cross-border mergers essentially dried up after the 2008 financial crisis.
“Europe could healthily do with some further consolidation in the banking sector,” Cryan said, echoing similar comments by other banking executives. “In balancing out our sources of revenue and profit, I think there would be some benefit to us longer term investing in more traditional banking - corporate and retail banking.”
Deutsche Bank can also do that by focusing on its digital business, although that might take longer, he said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Nicholas Comfort in Frankfurt at ncomfort1@bloomberg.net, Steven Arons in Frankfurt at sarons@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dale Crofts at dcrofts@bloomberg.net, Jon Menon
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