Commerzbank to pay first dividend in eight years
Lender posts pre-tax profit of €401m in third quarter as chief announces departure next year
Commerzbank will pay a dividend for the first time since 2007 as its recovery gains ground, it announced on Monday, the day after its chief executive, the architect of the bank's turnaround, said he would step down in a year.
Germany's second-largest lender said it will propose a payout of 20 euro cents per share for 2015.
Commerzbank shares rose 3 per cent in early trading, while the Stoxx Europe 600 banking sector index was down 0.7 per cent.
Martin Blessing, the only chief executive of a German state-rescued bank to remain in power, had recently skirted questions on his future, but said on Sunday he would leave the bank after his contract expires in October next year as it was time for someone else to take over the running of the bank.
Blessing, who took the helm in May 2008, has spent most of his time restructuring the lender after its near-collapse following the Dresdner Bank takeover in the midst of the financial crisis.
The state had to rescue Commerzbank with the infusion of more than €18 billion, much of which has now been repaid.