Deutsche Bank Profit Plunges 94 per cent

(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) Deutsche Bank's third-quarter profit plunged 94 per cent amid uncertain financial markets and after it was forced to lay aside 1.2 billion euros (1.7 billion dollars) to cover legal costs, Germany's biggest bank said Tuesday. The Frankfurt-based bank said net profit fell to 41 million euros from 747 million euros in the same period last year Analysts had expected the company to report third-quarter earnings of 428 million euros, according to a survey by dpa-AFX, German Press Agency dpa reported "In the third quarter, we met several challenges," bank co-chairmen Juergen Fitschen and Anshu Jain said "We took substantial litigation charges and saw reduced profits in investment banking, leading to a lower quarterly result," they said "We're moving forward, step by step, on our three-year strategic journey of building a world-class platform for Deutsche Bank," they said The bank's shares slumped 2.7 per cent to 34.95 euros in Frankfurt after the release of the results Some of the litigation it faces is over the possible manipulation of benchmark interest rates and in connection with the US mortgage market Deutsche Bank has also been embroiled in a long-running court case involving the collapse of German media mogul Leo Kirch's business empire.