GARCHING (dpa-AFX) - Deutsche Pfandbriefbank has made a slightly better start to the year after its profit slump last year. In the first quarter, the commercial real estate financier earned 34 million euros before taxes, two million more than a year earlier, as it announced on Tuesday in Garching near Munich. The surplus rose from 27 million to 29 million euros. However, the bank once again set aside a lot of money for impaired loans: risk provisions rose year-on-year from 2 million to 47 million euros. An increase in net interest income more than compensated for this.

The new CEO Kay Wolf now wants to take a major step and sell off risky financing for office, residential and hotel properties in the UK and the USA. This will involve a volume of around 900 million euros, it was reported. According to the bank, it has already disposed of part of its portfolio./stw/stk