Commerzbank Forecasts Second-Half Net Below First Half

Commerzbank AG, Germany’s second-largest bank, said profit will fall “significantly” in the second half of 2012 as slowing economic growth results in higher loan-loss provisions and mutes clients’ demand for services.

The shares tumbled as much as 4.9 percent. Net income in the first half totaled 644 million euros ($796 million), the Frankfurt-based bank reported today, as it set aside 616 million euros for doubtful loans. Commerzbank called its target for 1.7 billion euros of loan-loss provisions this year “increasingly ambitious” considering current market conditions.