Deutsche Bank and Barclays count virus cost

Two of Europe's leading banks showed the financial costs of the coronavirus Wednesday (July 29).

Deutsche Bank posted a second quarter loss of $90 million as it undergoes an expensive overhaul.

The German lender also increased provisions for credit losses to about $895 million, as the virus continues to affect business.

However, the loss for the quarter was far lower than last year's over-$3.8 billion.

Deutsche also talked up hopes for better revenues than expected for the year.

They are now forecast to be 'essentially flat' rather than 'slightly lower' as was previously thought.

Chief executive Christian Sewing says the declining losses are evidence that turnaround efforts are starting to pay off.

Meanwhile, Barclays said Wednesday it too had set aside billions to cover bad loans.

The British bank saw pre-tax profit of just under $1.7 billion for the first half of the year - down from almost $3.9 billion in 2019.

Provisions against bad debt of around $4.8 billion outweighed improved revenues from its investment bank.

Analysts predict those provisions will keep rising for the full year.

Barclays shares were down over 4% in early trade.

Deutsche stock was down close to 1%.