Revealed: Deutsche Bank swipes another chunk from bonus pots, having already trimmed payouts for one in four staff
Staff at Deutsche Bank have been dealt another blow after discovering the German lender's group bonus pool is being cut in half.
Bankers were told last week to expect a so-called "group bonus" equivalent to 50 per cent of the maximum amount they were due, City PM can reveal.
Deutsche's variable pay consists of two elements – an individual bonus, which is based on whether an employee has hit their targets, and a bonus from a group pool, which is calculated on the firm's financial performance.
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The bank announced in January it would be canning individual bonuses this year for anybody with the words vice president, director or managing director in their job title, which is roughly 25 per cent of its 100,000 workers. Individual bonuses tend to form the bulk of each person's payout.
Bankers who received the dreaded "doughnut" (an individual bonus of £0) hoped they would receive the maximum group bonus, but have now been told they will get half that amount.
The German banking giant recently launched an €8bn (£7bn) share issue to shore up its capital, following a tumultuous year. Deutsche reported back in February it was more than €1bn in the red for 2016.
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Last month, in an interview with German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, Deutsche Bank's administrative chief Karl von Rohr said its total bonus pool had been cut "by almost 80 per cent".
Deutsche Bank, which is due to publish its annual report next week, has also previously said it would still pay additional awards to a limited number of staff in key roles who it can ill-afford to lose.
Chief executive John Cryan also said in the past he hoped his firm could "resume normal service" for bonus awards next year, adding the decision to take an axe to bonus pots this year "wasn't taken lightly".
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Many bankers seeking bumper bonuses will have been left disappointed this year. Collective bonus pots at the UK's big five banks have shrunk five per cent year-on-year, including a one per cent cut at Barclays, despite the lender almost tripling its profits for 2016, and a 12 per cent cut at HSBC.
Deutsche Bank declined to comment.