On Feb. 7, 2005, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its 'AA-' long-term and 'A-1+' short-term counterparty credit ratings on Germany-based Deutsche Bank AG, and its ratings on related entities. The outlook is stable. The ratings affirmation follows the announcement of more details on the bank's Business Realignment Program including higher-than-expected restructuring charges, and of further earnings improvement in full-year results. The affirmation reflects the positive trend in Deutsche Bank's 2004 earnings, which should gain renewed impetus from its streamlining efforts even if the bank's revenue targets for 2005 are not fully achieved. The current initiatives, however, highlight that the bank has not yet fully overcome its performance gap to similarly rated peers as they follow a series of restructuring
