Germany's Commerzbank posted its fourth consecutive quarterly loss Thursday as it battled to emerge from the global financial crisis and to integrate its former rival Dresdner Bank into its operations, according to dpa. Frankfurt-based Commerzbank said it managed to narrow its second-quarter net loss to 764 million euros (1.1 billion dollars) compared with a 861-million-euro loss in the same period last year. "2009 will remain a challenging year, but we are heading in the right direction," said Commerzbank chief Martin Blessing. But the bank said that difficult market conditions meant it could not set out a forecast for 2009. Commerzbank also said its second-quarter results included charges of 216 million euros resulting from the cost of integrating Dresdner Bank, which it acquired in January. The bank said it set aside 993 million euros for loan-loss provisions in the second quarter compared with 414 million euros a year earlier. The release of the Commerzbank results come amid signs of cautious optimism that the worst of the financial crisis might be over for the global banking sector, with several banks on both sides of the Atlantic posting solid pickups in second-quarter earnings. But while Commerzbank's German competitor Deutsche Bank AG, France's BNP Paribas and a group of big Wall Street banks such as Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan have turned in strong second-quarter performances, other banks reported quarterly losses. These include France's Societe Generale, along with Zurich-based UBS, Britain's Lloyds Banking Group and Morgan Stanley in the US.
