Rating agency Fitch sees German banks lagging in Europe-wide consolidation |
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Tue, 12 Jun 2007 15:12
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FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - German banks are lagging behind in the wave of consolidation currently being seen around Europe, the international rating agency Fitch said in a sector-wide study published today.'German banks are not in a position to play an active role in the wave of mergers and acquisitions' around Europe, said Fitch's head of German bank analysis, Thomas von Luepke.German banks had made substantial progress in recent years, particularly in terms of profitability. But they are still lagging behind their European rivals, von Luepke said.Above all, the German banking sector had not seen the same level of domestic consolidation that Italy had, where a number of major banks merged recently, the analyst found.Most recently, UniCredito announced it would take over Capitalia to create the biggest bank in the euro area.'Germany has made small steps forward,' with the acquisition of the real estate lender BHW by Postbank, or of Eurohypo by Commerzbank, or of consumer credit specialist Norisbank and regional bank Berliner Bank by Deutsche Bank, Fitch continued.'There are signs that things are changing over the short and medium term,' von Luepke said. 'A number of changes are currently taking place that will gather momentum' in the future.The analyst said that mega-mergers were not necessarily the way forward for the European banking sector, but that acquisitions in emerging markets such as China and India were also a possibility.judith.csaba@thomson.comafp/jcs/ejbCOPYRIGHTCopyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.
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Banco Popular, Banco de Andalucia ratings affirmed with stable outlook - Fitch 