...LONDON (S&P Global Ratings) Feb. 4, 2019--S&P Global Ratings said today that its ratings on Deutsche Bank AG (###+/Stable/A-2) are unchanged after the bank announced a 319 million pretax loss for fourth-quarter 2018. Full-year 2018 net profit was 341 million, a 0.5% return on tangible equity (ROTE), which was in line with our expectations, and was the bank's first profitable year since 2014. The fourth-quarter result was a little worse than market expectations--despite management achieving its targets on headcount and cost control--principally because of weaker than expected revenues in some corporate and investment bank segments. Deutsche Bank's balance sheet metrics remained solid in the fourth quarter. The results confirm our view that management's biggest challenge is to improve profitability and bolster the bank's customer franchise. In comparison with global peers, these unsurprising results remain weak, and the restructuring protracted. Litigation and regulatory risks have reduced...
