European shares edged lower on Monday, with persistent concerns about Greece’s debt situation prompting some investors to take profits after recent strong gains.

There were also stock-specific declines. Deutsche Bank fell 4.9 per cent as investors doubted whether co-chief executives Anshu Jain and Juergen Fitschen would meet their new targets.

The German lender plans to cut €200 billion ($217.5 billion) in investment bank assets and exit a tenth of the countries in which it operates as part of a restructuring programme designed to boost earnings and cut risk.

Investors’ focus stayed on Greece. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble had hinted on Saturday that Berlin was preparing for a possible Greek default, drawing a parallel with the secrecy of German reunification plans in 1989.

Greece looks set to run out of cash in the coming weeks. Euro zone finance ministers had warned Greece on Friday that its leftist government will get no more aid until it agrees a complete economic reform plan.

“Given the impasse between the two sides, it just doesn’t seem that we are getting any further forward. Many creditor nations are losing patience,’’ Peter Dixon, equity strategist at Commerzbank, said.

“The willingness to give in to these kind of Greek threats is perhaps less than it was because a lot of people think that a Greek exit would not necessarily lead to the worst-case outcome that might have been predicted some years ago.’’

Greek shares fell 0.3 per cent, while the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was down 0.3 per cent at 1,622.42 points by 0814 GMT.

On the positive side, Volkswagen gained 3.4 per cent following the resignation of its supervisory board Chairman Ferdinand Piech on Saturday, following a showdown with Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn.

HSBC rose 2.8 per cent on a report that Europe’s biggest bank was weighing plans to spin off its British retail bank in a £20 billion ($30.4 billion) deal.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index reached its highest level in nearly 15 years earlier this month and is up nearly 20 per cent so far this year.

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