German lender Commerzbank has seen its legacy assets return to profit in the first quarter as it cut out loan losses.
The bank said the revaluation of its shipping portofolio under the new International Financial Reporting Standard 9 (IFRS 9) eliminated the drag from this sector.
The asset and capital recovery (ACR) division produced no loan losses in the period, against EUR 119m ($142m) a year ago.
The risk result for the bank as a whole stood at a loss of EUR 77m, thanks to the shipping revaluation.
Operating profit for ACR was EUR 18m, from a loss of EUR 33m in 2017.
Revenue fell to EUR 45m from EUR 115m, while operating expenses remained stable at EUR 27m.
The bank's net earnings were up at EUR 250m in the first three months, versus EUR 229m in 2017.
The non-performing loan ratio dropped to 1%.
It said this was already low compared to European peers and illustrated the bank's healthy risk profile.
Risk-weighted assets (RWA) in the first quarter rose by EUR 1bn to EUR 170bn.
Looking ahead, it said the risk result under IFRS 9 is expected to be below EUR 600m for 2018.
