"Consolidation cannot be a goal in itself," Felix Hufeld told a banking conference, a day after news emerged that Germany's two biggest lenders, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank had recently explored prospects for a merger.
It is tough work to extract synergies from mergers, and merging two weak banks does not usually create a strong one, Hufeld added.
(Reporting by Jonathan Gould; Editing by Maria Sheahan)