DEUTSCHE BANK SEES SLOW START TO 1987

  Deutsche Bank AG &lt;DBKG.F> has seen a
  slow start to 1987 after posting record profits in 1986,
  management board joint spokesman F. Wilhelm Christians said.
      Credit business declined in the first few weeks of the
  year, and the interest margin was squeezed further. The weak
  German bourse saw earnings on commission fall sharply, and
  trading in securities also fell. But earnings from currency
  dealing were still satisfactory, he told a news conference.
      Deutsche group partial operating profits rose to 3.78
  billion marks in 1986 from 2.92 billion in 1985 on a balance
  sheet of 257.22 billion marks after 237.23 billion.
      Profits were swollen by earnings from the placement of the
  former Flick group, which have been estimated at some one
  billion marks, and from record profits in trading on the bank's
  own account, not included in partial operating profits.
      Earnings from the Flick transaction were booked through a
  subsidiary, and therefore showed up as part of the interest
  surplus in a section current earnings from securities and
  participations.
      In the group this nearly doubled to 2.64 billion marks from
  1.45 billion.
      As usual the bank did not detail total operating profits.
      But it said that total operating profits, including own
  account trading, rose 24.9 pct or 4.5 pct without the Flick
  transaction in the group, and 35.1 pct or seven pct in the
  parent bank.
      Banking analysts said this put group total operating
  profits at some 6-1/2 to seven billion marks, and parent bank
  operating profits at over five billion marks.
      Christians said Deutsche used the extraordinary earnings
  from Flick to pay a record five mark bonus on top of its
  unchanged 12 mark dividend.
      The bank had decided against raising the dividend itself
  because of the uncertain business outlook at the end of 1986,
  and developments so far this year showed that was correct,
  Christians said.
      West German banks rarely raise dividends unless they are
  sure they can maintain the increased payout in subsequent
  years, preferring to use bonuses for one-of profits.
      The bank also used its extraordinary earnings to continue a
  high level of risk provision, Christians said.
      Disclosed group risk provisions rose to 867 mln marks in
  1986 from 765 mln in 1985.
      Under German law, disclosed provisions do not necessarily
  reflect the full amount of risk provisions.
      Management board joint spokesman Alfred Herrhausen said
  Deutsche's total debt exposure to problem countries had fallen
  to over six billion marks in 1986 from 7.4 billion in 1985
  because of the fall in the dollar.
      He agreed with a questioner who asked if over two thirds of
  such problem country debt had been written off.
      Deutsche Bank posted a sharp rise in holdings of "other
  securities," to 4.64 billion marks from 2.71 billion in the
  parent bank.
      Christians said this 1.93-billion-mark rise was partly due
  to its increased activity in international share placements,
  with some shares such as those from Fiat SpA's international
  placement last year remaining on its books.
      Herrhausen said that no concrete measures were planned to
  place these shares and conclude the original placement.
  

