Germany

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If you’re looking for evidence of the turnaround at Commerzbank, you need look no further than its share price, which has roughly doubled over the past 12 months. It has taken a few years but chairman Klaus-Peter Müller has succeeded in revitalizing Germany’s second-largest listed bank. He has been assiduous in his assault on the rot that has plagued the bank, cutting thousands of jobs and largely withdrawing from money-losing forays in investment banking in New York, London and Tokyo.

More evidence of Commerzbank’s reversal of fortune came this March when the bank was forced to release its operating and net profit figures two days ahead of schedule because they were so much better than the market was expecting. Net profits for the first quarter of this year at €740 million were almost double the €395 million reported in the same period the year before and more than 12% ahead of analysts’ consensus expectations.