The fund subsidiary is currently paying a lot for lawyers and court proceedings.
(Photo: Reuters)
Frankfurt The profit of the Deutsche Bank subsidiary DWS fell last year due to the decline in prices on the stock exchanges and the processing of the greenwashing allegations. The group result of the fund company listed in the SDax collapsed in 2022 by 23 percent to 599 million euros.
As DWS further announced on Thursday, the development was driven by an impairment of 68 million euros and the omission of a significant performance fee. The slight increase in management fees of EUR 2.45 billion was the main contributor to the income of EUR 2.7 billion, which remained at the level of the previous year. In the previous year it was 2.37 billion euros.
“2022 was the ultimate super bear scenario for DWS: all asset classes under pressure, a war in Europe and concerns about the German economy – there were also DWS-specific challenges,” said DWS boss Stefan Hoops on Thursday.
Following allegations by the former head of sustainability, German and US authorities are investigating the fund company on suspicion of capital market fraud. The former employee had accused the Deutsche Bank subsidiary of “greenwashing”.
DWS is said to have presented and sold green funds more sustainably than they are. The proceedings also placed a financial burden on the fund company: the costs of legal advice also contributed to the increase in noninterest expenses.
Nevertheless, Hoops wants to stick to his goals and make DWS more attractive for shareholders. The company announced a dividend of EUR 2.05 per share for 2022 after EUR 2 in the previous year.
More: Star fund manager Tim Albrecht is leaving DWS