Commerzbank meets important criteria for DAX membership

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany's Commerzbank said on Monday that it met an important profit criteria to join Germany's benchmark DAX index of blue-chip stocks.

Commerzbank, still partially owned by the German government after a bailout more than a decade ago, was expelled from the DAX index in 2018.

The bank said its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were 3.371 billion euros ($3.66 billion) in 2022, coming in at a positive figure for a second consecutive year to meet the DAX's profit criteria.

Bettina Orlopp, Chief Financial Officer of Commerzbank, said the lender decided to disclose the figure "in order to enable Deutsche Boerse Group to consider us as a successor candidate" in the DAX.

Deutsche Boerse, which compiles the index, said earlier this month that Linde would be leaving the DAX and that it would announce a successor on Feb. 17.

Commerzbank is due to publish its full-year earnings on Feb. 16.

($1 = 0.9211 euros)

(Reporting by Tom Sims and Marta Orosz; Editing by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Miranda Murray)