WestLB slipped to a €38m ($51.7m) pre-tax loss in the first six months of the year after racking up €604m of proprietary trading losses that its new chief executive today branded "depressing".

First-half profits before tax fell from €239m in the same period last year as WestLB took a hit from its prop trading unit, where it has now exited its spread positions on ordinary and preferred shares. Strong performance elsewhere helped limit the bank's net loss from overall trading to €309m in the first half, which compares with a €213m profit last year.