Deutsche Bank Drops as Firm Said to Take Charge: Frankfurt Mover

Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) dropped as much as 2.1 percent in Frankfurt trading after the bank was said to probably book an additional charge of as much as 400 million euros ($528 million) tied to the sale of Actavis Group hf.

The stock was down 1.9 percent at 33.83 euros as of 9:09 a.m. local time, valuing the company at about 31.4 billion euros.

The bank may say it took an impairment of 300 million euros to 400 million euros when it reports first-quarter results April 26, said people familiar with the process, who declined to be identified because talks are private. Watson probably will announce as early as tomorrow that it has agreed to buy Actavis for about 4.5 billion euros, less than the value of the debt Deutsche Bank holds, resulting in the charge, they said.

“A charge would be very disappointing,” said Dirk Becker, a Frankfurt-based analyst at Kepler Capital Markets who recommends investors buy Deutsche Bank shares. “I had thought a gain to have been possible after they wrote down Actavis several times over the last years.”

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nicholas Comfort at ncomfort1@bloomberg.net

Enlarge image

Deutsche Bank Drops as Firm Said to Take Charge

Hannelore Foerster/Bloomberg

Light trails made by passing automobiles are seen in front of the Deutsche Bank AG headquarters in Frankfurt.

Light trails made by passing automobiles are seen in front of the Deutsche Bank AG headquarters in Frankfurt. Photographer: Hannelore Foerster/Bloomberg