"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)

Stocks treated in this article : Deutsche Bank AG, Commerzbank AG