Commerzbank lifted parts of its full-year outlook and outlined plans to return some of its first-half profits to shareholders via an up to 1 billion euro ($1.16 billion) share-buyback program after a forecast-beating second quarter.

The German lender said it has been making progress in implementing the strategy it presented in February, which laid out plans to cut thousands of jobs and boost profitability and shareholder returns as part of Chief Executive Bettina Orlopp’s efforts to fend off an unwanted approach from Italy’s UniCredit.