Deutsche Bank to investors: No, really, we’re fine

Deutsche Bank is no Lehman Brothers.

That was the message the German bank giant hoped to send Tuesday, when it sought to reassure nervous investors that it was on firm financial footing after a plunge in its share price a day earlier.

The Frankfurt-based bank is “absolutely rock-solid,” co-CEO John Cryan said in a letter to employees that was also posted for the public on its Web site.

Shares plunged almost 10 percent on Monday amid a wider selloff in European bank stocks. Deutsche Bank recorded a loss of more than $7 billion in the fourth quarter and its stock is trading near a record low.

Investors fear that the bank — beset by rising regulatory and legal costs — will have to raise cash by issuing more shares if market conditions get any worse.

“We will almost certainly have to add to our legal provisions this year but this is already accounted for in our financial plan,” Cryan said in the letter.

Analysts at CreditSights questioned whether Deutsche Bank would be able to make some optional bond payments in 2017 if its situation worsens this year.

Shares of Deutsche Bank were down more than 3 percent Tuesday morning as global stock markets headed for a third straight selloff. The stock fell 9.5 percent on Monday.