FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - The Commerzbank's outlook for the new year, along with its complete financials for 2025, pushed the bank's shares on Wednesday to their lowest level since November. Market analyst Andreas Lipkow from broker CMC Markets spoke of "disappointed, high expectations" despite overall solid numbers.

After the shares had slumped to as low as €32.86 during the morning, they recovered slightly, most recently down 4.9 percent at €33.53. They found support at the 90-day moving average, which is considered an important medium-term trend indicator. Nevertheless, they remained the worst performer in the DAX by midday.

"The numbers were fundamentally good, but the expectations of some major market participants were actually even higher," Lipkow commented on the stock’s losses. As a result, selling pressure met with waning demand due to a lack of fresh impetus. "In short: good news is being sold," he summarized.

Commerzbank reported a pre-tax profit for the fourth quarter that was 6 percent above the consensus estimate provided by the bank, wrote UBS analyst Mate Nemes. He also noted positively that as planned, net interest income and slightly higher fee income, combined with lower-than-expected costs, had a positive effect on overall earnings. These were also better than analysts’ average expectations.

However, Nemes also saw some downsides in the bank's raised outlook. While net profit is set to rise above the previous target of €3.2 billion, the average consensus estimate is about 7 percent higher, he pointed out.

"All in all, there is not much reason for excessive joy," summarized analyst Krishnendra Dubey of Barclays Bank. Ultimately, the quarterly figures only slightly exceeded expectations. The targets for 2026 also matched expectations, so there is unlikely to be much change in market estimates.

Borja Ramirez Segura from Citigroup also critically noted that—although net profit and the core Tier 1 capital ratio were surprisingly strong—the forecast for loan loss provisions (LLP) in 2026 is conservative and could therefore be questioned./ck/err/jha/