Commerzbank AG will rejoin Germany’s DAX Index, four years after the lender got booted to make way for then-rising star Wirecard AG only to see the payments company collapse in an accounting scandal.
(Bloomberg) — Commerzbank AG will rejoin Germany’s DAX Index, four years after the lender got booted to make way for then-rising star Wirecard AG only to see the payments company collapse in an accounting scandal.
The bank will replace industrial-gases producer Linde Plc, which is delisting from the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, according to index provider Qontigo. Linde, the DAX’s biggest company by market value, will be removed from the benchmark on Feb. 27, the statement added.
Read: Linde’s Frankfurt Exit Is Testimony to DAX Index’s Struggles (1)
Linde’s delisting means Unicredit will replace the company on the Euro Stoxx 50 Index and Sinch AB will join the Stoxx 600 Index.
Commerzbank dropped out of the blue-chip gauge in September 2018 after being a part of the index since its inception 30 years ago, as Wirecard got promoted due to its €21 billion market value.
The blue-chip gauge includes the 40 largest German listed companies, based on market value — adjusted to account for how many of the shares are available for trading — as well as criteria for profitability and corporate governance. Commerzbank last month released its earnings earlier than usual and said it fulfils the index’s inclusion criteria on profitability.
Qontigo added some of those metrics after Wirecard went bust due to an accounting fraud less than two years after it was included in the index. It was the first DAX company to go bankrupt. The company’s former chief executive officer, Markus Braun, is on trial in Munich, accused of setting up an elaborate system of fake accounts and payments to make credit providers and investors believe Wirecard was a thriving business. He’s denied wrongdoing.
Commerzbank expects profits this year to be significantly above the €1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) earned in 2022, the company said Thursday, as rising interest rates hand lenders their best results in years.
–With assistance from Jan-Patrick Barnert and Macarena Muñoz.
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