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Deutsche Bank Completes Offloading Its $1B CRE Loan Portfolio

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Deutsche Bank AG (DB - Free Report) has offloaded nearly $1 billion in loans tied to U.S. commercial real estate (CRE), as reported by Bloomberg. With this move, the company minimized its exposure to an asset class that adversely impacted its business.

Rationale Behind DB’s Sale of CRE Loans

Deutsche Bank’s exposure to CRE loans, especially inked to U.S. CRE and office properties, has been concerning investors. 

As of the end of third-quarter 2024, the bank’s CRE exposure stood at €15 billion, with almost 46% exposure in office properties. The commercial property market was hit hard by higher interest rates, which have raised borrowing costs and weighed on valuations. U.S. offices have been among the worst performers in the CRE sectors in the past few years.

DB has been witnessing elevated provisions for commercial property for the past few years. The company’s provision for credit losses witnessed a CAGR of 23.4% over the last five years (ended 2023). In the first nine months of 2024, provision for credit losses related to CRE loans increased year over year. This indicates that the DB’s recent move to alleviate the strain on its holdings is well thought-off.

For Deutsche Bank, this effort marks a chance to lower exposure to a historically risky asset class and to secure some capital relief.

Other banks are also reducing their exposure to CRE loans. In June 2024, WaFd, Inc. (WAFD - Free Report) completed the sale of $2.8 billion of multi-family CRE loans to Bank of America, which, in turn, is selling the loans to funds managed by Pacific Investment Management Company LLC. This sale of WAFD loans was executed at 92% of the principal balance. 

In May 2024, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM - Free Report) signed agreements with multiple buyers to divest the United States-based office loans worth $316 million at a discount. CM’s provisions have witnessed an increase in recent years due to its exposure to CRE.

Deutsche Bank’s Zacks Rank & Price Performance

Over the past year, DB shares have gained 30.8% on the NYSE compared with the industry’s growth of 20.5%.

 

Zacks Investment ResearchImage Source: Zacks Investment Research

 

Currently, Deutsche Bank carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.


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