Deutsche Bank, Germany's biggest bank, said today it was likely to have to write down further the value of lending commitments if 'exceptionally difficult' market conditions did not improve soon.
The bank also said in its annual financial report that while it could not yet estimate the impact of possible writedowns on its full-year results, it might not reach its 2008 pretax target of €8.4 billion.
Deutsche Bank said its short-term outlook 'continues to be very challenging'.
Last year, it posted a record net profit of €6.5 billion after managing to avoid massive losses that hit other major international banks following the collapse of the US market for high-risk, or sub-prime, mortgages.
But the bank might not be able to make up weaker activity this year in financial products that helped its investment bank division provide the majority of profits last year, it said.
