- Core tier 1 capital ratio fully loaded 11.7% v 11.7% q/q

- Leverage ratio 3.4% v 3.5% q/q- After tax ROE 3.1% v 7.9% y/y

- Loan loss provisions €218M v €246M y/y

- Global transaction banking pretax €409M v €356M y/y

- Deutsche Asset & Wealth management pretax €291M v €166M y/y

- Corporate banking and Securities pretax €643M v €1.44B y/y

- Private Business and clients pretax €536M v €475M y/y

- Co-CEOs: In the first quarter 2015, revenues were close to record levels, reflecting the strength of our franchise across all our core businesses. Profits were impacted by litigation expenses of €1.5B, primarily reflecting the banks definitive settlement with US and UK authorities relating to interbank offered rates (IBOR) and bank levy charges of €561 million.... Core Bank adjusted IBIT of €3.5B was the best since we launched Strategy 2015+ in 2012, reflecting both revenue strength and discipline in our adjusted cost base. In CB&S, Debt Sales & Trading revenues were the best since eight quarters and Equity Sales & Trading revenues the best since 2008, driven by strong client activity, robust markets and a normalization of market volatility after recent historic lows. Both PBC and GTB overcame the challenge of persistent low interest rates to achieve near record quarterly profits. Deutsche AWM grew revenues significantly, increased pre-tax profits by 75% year-on-year, and attracted €17B of net new money inflows.... These results provide a snapshot of a Deutsche Bank which is much stronger than when we began our journey in 2012. We have delivered robust operating performance despite tight resource discipline and significant investments in regulatory compliance. We have significantly strengthened our capital position. We embark on the next phase of our strategy from a position of strength. 

Cover story: In the latest Barrons Big Money poll, a record 50% of respondents say they are neutral about the stock markets prospects through year-end, the highest such reading since spring 2005, and a sharp increase from last falls 31%.

Tech Trader: Positive on AMZN: Amazon Web Services division turns out to be very profitable, making up 7% of revenue but 37% of profit; companys decision to release financial information about it should ease Wall Street concerns.

Trader: A strong Nasdaq and decent earnings reports could be the catalyst that lifts the broader market out of its rut, says Brad McMillan of Commonwealth Financial; Cautious on ATHN: Though shares have tumbled 16% this year, they remain richly valued and further weakness is possible as company faces an increasingly competitive and even saturated market; Cautious on WWE: Total subscriptions continue to rise, but the day rate of new subscribers has plummeted after the initial burst in 2014, and shares could head lower if growth falls short of expectations.

Eurozone officials seek to bypass Varoufakis to spur Greek talks

A fraught eurozone meeting in Riga at the weekend has left Yanis Varoufakis, the Greek finance minister, increasingly isolated both in Brussels and in Athens as officials seek to bypass him in an effort to jump-start bailout talks.

Greece’s dire financial position is forcing eurozone authorities to look beyond

Mr Varoufakis to Alexis Tsipras, prime minister, much like in February when Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance minister who chairs the eurogroup, brokered an extension of the current bailout programme.

According to two eurozone officials, Mr Dijsselbloem phoned Mr Tsipras from Riga in an effort to mend fences after Friday’s feisty eurogroup meeting, where Mr Varoufakis was rounded on by his eurozone colleagues.

In a sign that Mr Varoufakis’s combative approach is prompting concern in Greece as well, a senior Athens official said the Riga meeting was likely to lead to him being sidelined as Mr Tsipras and his deputy Yannis Dragasakis take a more hands-on role.

Amid the acrimony, differences over a new list of reforms that is to be agreed by Athens were barely discussed at the meeting, putting off indefinitely a deal to unlock access to the funds left from Greece’s €172bn bailout.

“All the ministers told [Mr Varoufakis]: this cannot go on,” said Luis de Guindos, Spain’s finance minister.

Mr Varoufakis shrugged off criticism from his eurozone colleagues, comparing his situation to that of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt as he pushed through the New Deal. “They are unanimous in their hatred for me and I welcome their hatred,” he tweeted.

Some eurozone and Greek officials believe divisions between Mr Varoufakis and Mr Tsipras are deepening and that a concerted appeal to the prime minister could still produce a deal by late May, the time many feel an agreement has to be reached if any aid disbursement can be made before the current bailout expires at the end of June.

Although there are wide differences between Athens and eurozone creditors on matters of substance the current stand-off with Mr Varoufakis is mostly on matters of process, officials said.

Because of the new government’s vow not to return to intrusive inspections by bailout monitors, formerly known as the “troika”, Mr Varoufakis has refused to engage with mid-level negotiators on the ground in Athens and has insisted a political agreement be reached at high levels instead. Eurozone leaders have stymied the strategy, insisting a deal be struck on a new economic reform plan with monitors in Athens before any talks on releasing aid money can occur within the eurogroup.

“There is an element of cognitive dissonance here,” said one official involved in the talks. “Varoufakis does not comprehend that at the political level one just does not negotiate every item. Other people do that.”

A person close to the Greek government said Mr Varoufakis had become “a drag on the Syriza administration”.

But he is unlikely to be dropped immediately by Mr Tsipras, the person said: “The time to shed this finance minister is when the interim deal with creditors has been reached and before negotiations start on a new bailout package.”

The government is trying to find €1bn to pay pensions and subsidies this week, and will need additional cash to make payments of €880m due to the International Monetary Fund by mid-May of face a default.

Dimitris Mardas, deputy finance minister, has managed to raise an extra €450m from the cash reserves of state-controlled entities to pay public sector salaries for the second half of April, while suspending payments due to government suppliers and value-added tax returns to exporters.

So far, mayors across the country have refused to comply with a decree approved by parliament on Friday forcing local authorities to deposit their cash reserves immediately with the central bank, on grounds that if Greece defaults the funds will be permanently lost.

“We coped in February and March thanks to improved revenue inflows and payment delays,” said Mr Dragasakis. “But this situation can’t continue — it will trigger recession, and society can’t handle more recession, more unemployment and more austerity.”

Decision on €1.4bn takeover of Aer Lingus set to drag into May

A decision by the Government on the future of Aer Lingus now looks set to be delayed until May, with no signs that the Cabinet is due to consider the issue at its meeting next Tuesday.

Aer Lingus holds its annual general meeting next Friday, while IAG also releases first quarter results next Thursday.

It appears that neither company will now be in a position to provide any meaningful update to shareholders at the events, despite the possible €1.4bn takeover.

However, it is not clear at this stage whether a report being prepared for Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe by a steering group has even been completed.

Mr Donohoe will use that report to brief his Cabinet colleagues in advance of the Government making a decision on whether or not to sell the State's Aer Lingus stake.

However, Aer Lingus unions also expect to be briefed by Department of Transport in advance of any decision being made.

The looming bus strike and other political issues may have downgraded Aer Lingus as a priority issue on the Government's agenda for the next couple of weeks.

Mr Donohoe has insisted on numerous occasions that he and the Government won't be rushed into making a decision on Aer Lingus, but at the same time has said he does not want the issue to drag on. Should the Government decide to sell, a Dail vote is needed before a disposal of the Aer Lingus stake can be formally approved.

But if the Government rejects the IAG takeover approach, the British Airways and Iberia owner, which is headed by Willie Walsh, will have to decide if it will pursue majority control of Aer Lingus. Such an option could see it attempt to buy all but the Government's stake in the airline.

One senior UK equity analyst, who did not wish to be named, told the Irish Independent that such an approach would be risky for IAG.

He said that a takeover suitor would normally only opt to acquire a majority of a takeover target in order to prevent a potential rival bidder from muscling in, and in the hope of persuading the minority shareholder to sell out later.

"Given the absence of other bidders, and the risks from a blocking minority, the risk might not be worth it," the analyst said.

IAG has also said its takeover offer will be predicated on securing an agreement from Ryanair to sell its near 30pc stake in Aer Lingus to the company.

The Department of Transport chairs the steering group preparing the report on the IAG takeover approach.

The steering group includes executives from Credit Suisse, law firm McCann Fitzgerald, and IBI Corporate Finance.

Irish Independent

Jet sales chief John Leahy sees strong demand for superjumbo from 2020

LONDON—Airbus GroupNV on Monday celebrates the 10-year anniversary of the A380 superjumbo’s first flight. The European plane maker so far has had little to cheer about, though, as it struggled to win sales for its flagship plane.

Development and production delays, a deep financial crisis and changes in airline preferences have stymied Airbus’s efforts to sell the world’s biggest airliner.

Almost as many buyers have decided not to introduce into their fleets some or all of the A380s they ordered as those that have stuck to their commitments. About a dozen airlines have walked away or delayed delivery of A380 jets. Still, others, such as Emirates Airline and Singapore Airlines Ltd., have been big customers.

When the company embarked on building the jet in 2000, Airbus bet that over the next 20 years, it would win half the market for very large aircraft, which it estimated at around 1,550 planes. Airbus to date has booked 317 A380 orders, of which 158 have been delivered.

“The A380 was always a small market, but it’s a growing market,” Airbus’s chief operating officer for customers, John Leahy, said in an interview.

Orders in hand are roughly in line with what Airbus expected, after taking into account that a planned larger version of the A380, and a freighter offshoot, were never built, Mr. Leahy said. Airbus scrapped those derivatives when the program fell years behind schedule and ran over cost.

Rival Boeing Co. also has struggled to win sales for its 747-8, the direct competitor to the A380. It has had to curtail output, though the Chicago-based plane maker had lower ambitions than Airbus.

A380 buyers that no longer are onboard with taking the plane include Virgin Atlantic Airways, the airline founded by Richard Branson; International Lease Finance Corp., one of the world’s largest leasing companies, now owned by AerCap Holdings NV; and India’s Kingfisher Airlines Ltd. A deal with Japan’s Skymark was canceled last year over payment concerns.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Air France-KLM SA, have said they wouldn’t take the number they once planned. Orders from FedEx, the world’s largest cargo airline, and United Parcel Service Inc. died when the freighter was canceled.

The A380 “from the beginning wasn’t super-efficient,” said Adam Pilarski, senior vice president at aviation consultancy Avitas. “It’s big, old technology.”

Having given large price discounts to the A380’s first customers and those that bought large numbers, which is typical in the aviation industry, Airbus now has to try to sell A380s at high prices, he said, hampering efforts to win new deals. A380s carry a price tag of $428 million, though customers usually pay less.

Airbus Chief Financial Officer Harald Wilhelm in December suggested the A380 could go out of production around the end of the decade unless orders pick up. Since then, however, Airbus officials have been at pains to say the project won’t be abandoned.

Airbus spent $15 billion to develop the plane and, before costs rose, hoped to reach break-even on the program after 250 deliveries. It now has promised investors that A380s being delivered from this year will no longer lose money, though executives have ceased talking about making a profit on the program.

Mr. Leahy said the A380 will enjoy “good, solid growth going forward.” Airbus should be able to sell about as many jets this year as the roughly 30 A380 it plans to deliver, he said.

It has been almost three years since Airbus won an A380 order from a new airline customer, though Emirates Airline, the plane’s biggest buyer, ordered 50 more in 2013. Lessor Amedeo ordered 20 in a deal completed last year, though it has yet to announce any airlines that will take the plane and has delayed its first delivery.

Mr. Leahy said “the market will remain a little bit soft for the next couple of years,” though he is optimistic A380 demand will show “very strong growth” from 2020 as Asian traffic increases and airports reach capacity limits forcing airlines to use bigger planes.

The A380 has proved popular with passengers even as airline buyers remained concerned about making money with the plane. To boost the A380’s economic appeal, Airbus has increased the advertised average seat count on the plane to 544 passengers from 525. More seats mean lower unit costs, which is a closely watched measure by airlines when they decide what plane to buy.

Mr. Leahy said some airlines are showing interest in a stretched version that could seat far more passengers.

UK government warns BP over potential takeover

The British government has told BP it would oppose any potential takeover of the company, which was seriously weakened by the huge bill incurred after the Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon disaster five years ago.

Amid wider consolidation in the energy sector, triggered by the sharp fall in oil prices, Downing Street has informed BP and senior City figures that it wants the group to remain a British industrial champion with global reach.

Prime Minister David Cameron has long presented Britain as a welcoming destination for foreign investment, but his government has made it clear that it would not remain neutral if the company were the target of a foreign takeover.

Analysts have in the past linked ExxonMobil, the world’s largest non-state oil company, to a possible move on BP. But British officials have told the Financial Times that Number 10 would be “sceptical” about any takeover — even if it involved Royal Dutch Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil major — because it wants Britain to have two big global oil companies.

BP declined to comment on whether the UK government had discussed the issue with the company. But Number 10 said: “The government talks to a wide range of UK businesses, as you would expect. It is in the UK’s interest to have British companies competing and succeeding at home and abroad.”

Westminster officials admit that the UK would have few formal powers to block a bid, but a senior City figure briefed on the government’s thinking said: “They would make their opposition so clear that any foreign bidder would be deterred from actually making a bid.”

Successive Labour and Conservative governments have pursued a laissez-faire approach to takeovers, but both parties toughened their stance last year following public, political and business concern over a bid by Pfizer for AstraZeneca. The US drugs company eventually dropped the offer for its Anglo-Swedish rival.

BP has many assets that could interest Exxon, but the US company is seen as being unlikely to launch a bid, partly because of the political opposition it would encounter. The uncertainty BP faces over the final cost of its 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as its exposure to Russia through its stake in the state-controlled oil company Rosneft, would also deter the US group.

Rex Tillerson, Exxon’s chief executive, has been critical of practices at BP that he suggested contributed to the disaster, suggesting that integrating the two companies could be difficult.

Gallic gesture to keep the British in BP

The sign for a BP filling station in Westminster on February 1, 2011 in London, England. BP has reported a loss for 2010 of 3.1bn GBP, this is the first time the oil giant has made an annual loss since 1992. This compares with a profit of 8.6bn GBP for BP in 2009. The dramatic difference can be largely attributed to the 25.3bn GBP set aside by the company for charges relation to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill last year.

Analysts and bankers say Exxon is also wary of overpaying for acquisitions, following criticism that it paid too much for XTO Energy, the US shale gas and oil company it bought for $41bn, including debt, in 2009.

Bob Dudley, BP chief executive, this week said the energy group had no appetite for a megamerger similar to those that reshaped the oil industry in the 1990s. “I’m not sure big is absolutely seen as beautiful,” he told a conference in Houston. “We’ve got a good portfolio, I like our portfolio.”

He added: “I don’t see the forces at work for lots of consolidation unless the oil price stays down for some time.”

The vulnerability of BP to a takeover has been discussed at a senior level in Whitehall since the Deepwater Horizon disaster, when an explosion on a rig working under contract for the company killed 11 men and triggered the worst offshore oil spill in US history.

BP is still counting the cost of the disaster. It has so far provided $43.5bn over the spill, but that includes only $3.5bn for the Clean Water Act penalty, and nothing for the possible natural resource damages.

The cost of the company’s settlement for the individuals and businesses affected by the spill is also expected to end up significantly greater than the $9.9bn included in its provisions.