Another Good Quarter for Commerzbank; Maintain Fair Value Estimate

No-moat Commerzbank reported another strong quarter in 2022. Revenue increased 30% to EUR 2,422 million, driven primarily by 26% higher net interest income. Higher rates in Poland and Germany are filtering through to Commerzbank's income statement, reversing a headwind, which had weighed on the profitability of the banking group for about a decade now. Operating expenses of EUR 1,425 million versus EUR 1,704 million in the same period a year ago also made a positive contribution. The combination of higher revenue and cost initiatives that have started to bear fruit was evidenced in an operating profit of EUR 746 million compared with just EUR 32 million a year ago. We maintain our EUR 9 per-share fair value estimate.