Deutsche Bank profits fall in Q1

Deutsche Bank, Germany's biggest lender, said Thursday that its bottom-line profit was cut by a third in the first three months as a result of weaker market conditions and exceptional charges. Deutsche Bank said in a statement its net profit amounted to 1.381 billion euros ($1.8 billion) in the period from January to March, down 33 percent from a year earlier. The first quarter net profit figure fell short of the 1.64 billion euros forecasted by analysts in a Dow Jones Newswires poll. Pre-tax profit fell 38 percent to 1.879 billion euros. "Against a background of continued caution in global financial markets, we delivered solid results," said chief executive Josef Ackermann. Earnings were hit by "weaker conditions in the first quarter 2012," he explained. But the bank also took a writedown of 257 million euros against its holding in the pharmaceuticals firm Actavis, which is being sold, Ackermann said.