Commerzbank, Germany’s second largest lender said on Wednesday it plans to repay 14.3bn euro in state aid by June through the sale of new shares and the use of excess capital.
 
The bank said it is to pay back €14.3bn of the €16.2bn in “silent participation”, a type of non-voting capital received by the German government at the height of the economic crisis. 
 
A total of €8.25bn is to be raised directly from capital markets and €2.75bn of the silent participation are to be converted into shares to redeem around €11bn of the government’s capital injection.
 
A further €3.27bn the bank said will be paid from surplus regulatory capital by the end of June, with the remainder to be paid back at the latest by 2014.
 
Commenting on the decision to repay the state aid, CEO Martin Blessing said: “We have returned to profitability one year earlier than expected and are keeping the promise to repay the temporary support of the government as soon as possible.”