COMMERZBANK AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT

To our Shareholders Corporate Responsibility Management Report Risk Report Group Financial Statements Further Information 155
99
127 71 Business and overall conditions
135 79 Earnings performance, assets and financial position
147 91 Segment performance
147 91 Private Customers
137 193 Our employees
143 199 Report on events after the reporting period
144 200 Outlook and opportunities report
Outlook for Private Customers segment
The market environment for Private Customer business continued to worsen in the wake of
the debt crisis in the second half of the year and will probably remain challenging in the current
year. The tendency in the sector was for low market interest rates to be a drag on net interest
income, and uncertainty among investors to depress net commission income. The loss
of customer confidence will present financial services providers with enormous challenges,
and additional regulatory requirements will intensify competition.
We see an opportunity in these changed operating conditions to expand our market position
as a quality provider, which is why we already began remodelling our Private Customer
business strategy in 2011.
Our new sales management will be a major springboard for quality and growth. Our sales
teams, having been given greater entrepreneurial freedom, are closer to customers, which is
the basis for a continuous improvement in sales performance and sustained growth. Our
“Customer focus” programme will enable us to gear a wide range of services even more
closely to customers’ needs, with the aim of expanding our market position. We are therefore
planning for higher income, particularly from deposit and lending business, in the coming
years.
Having fully completed the integration, we expect to realise the major portion of the
planned synergies by 2013. In this regard, the outstanding merger of branches located close
to each other will be completed by the end of 2012. We will continue to reduce our cost base
through strict cost discipline and a critical analysis of our processes within the scope of the
“Commerzbank Excellence” project. All in all, we are therefore expecting a further improvement
in operating profit in the Private Customers segment also in 2012.
Group Management Report