German lender Commerzbank has seen annual net earnings top EUR 1bn ($1.12bn) for the first time in five years as loan provisions were slashed.

Profit was EUR 1.06bn last year, against EUR 266m in 2014.

Loan loss provisions were at the "low level" of EUR 696m, down from EUR 1.14bn a year ago.

Revenue before provisions improved to EUR 9.8bn from EUR 8.8bn