Finance

Commerzbank CEO Unveils Fresh Payouts as She Faces Off Orcel

  • Full-year earnings rise 20% to a record, lender says
  • CEO Orlopp wants to fend off an approach by UniCredit
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Commerzbank AG Chief Executive Officer Bettina Orlopp announced a new share buyback and vowed to keep increasing payouts as she seeks to insulate the lender against a potential takeover by UniCredit SpA.

The German lender will start repurchasing as much as €400 million ($415 million) of its stock and propose a dividend of €0.65 per share at the next Annual General Meeting, it said in a statement Friday. That would take total payouts on last year’s profit to €1.73 billion, it said.