Deutsche Bank has broken off exploratory takeover talks with US giant Citigroup, according to the Financial Times.
The FT said the German bank's chairman Josef Ackermann decided that a US rival's acquisition of Germany's biggest bank would be politically impossible.
Deutsche Bank today reported that it more than trebled net profit last year, on the back of lower costs and a substantial cut in loan loss provisions.
Deutsche Bank reported a net profit of €1.4 billion last year, up from €397m a year earlier. Pre-tax profit before extraordinary items was also up strongly, rising to €3.6 billion in 2003 from €1.4 billion in 2002.
Profit growth was largely attributable to the bank's cost-cutting efforts and a sharp reduction in provisions to cover bad or risky loans.
Operating costs were cut by 11% to €17.3 billion and loan loss provisions were down at €1.1 billion, compared with €2.1 billion a year earlier.
