Deutsche Bank warns it may be ‘materially’ affected by virus impact

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Deutsche Bank said on Friday that the impact of the coronavirus outbreak may affect the lender’s ability to meet its financial targets.

“We may be materially adversely affected by a protracted downturn in local, regional or global economic condition,” the bank said in its annual report.

The warning is the first time that Germany’s largest lender has sounded the alarm on the outbreak, which has upended the bank’s operations by causing it to split teams globally and cancel major events.

The bank has been trying to engineer a turnaround after years of losses, and some executives and investors have privately feared that the outbreak could stall the bank’s restructuring efforts.

Deutsche’s shares have fallen to a record low amid a broad market rout.

Separately, the bank announced that Deutsche Boerse chief Theodor Weimer will be nominated to the bank’s supervisory board.

(Reporting by Tom Sims; editing by Riham Alkousaa and Jason Neely)