“We would look at it if we were asked,” said Jürgen Fitschen, a Deutsche Bank manager responsible for German affairs, during a banking industry conference.

German daily, the Financial Times Deutschland earlier reported that Deutsche Bank could acquire Citigroup’s German subsidiary to strengthen its retail banking operations.

Earlier this month, Citigroup disclosed a $5.1 billion net loss in the first quarter and said it would cut an additional 9,000 jobs to cope with the impact of bad bets on subprime mortgages.

Financial Times Deutschland said Citigroup could also sell other operations in Europe that might interest Deutsche Bank, adding that Citigroup was expected to make a decision by early May.

Deutsche Bank head Josef Ackermann earlier this week said he wanted to bolster the bank’s retail operations in Germany and reiterated an interest in Postbank, the German postal bank.

The goal would be to create a stable source of revenues for Deutsche Bank alongside those generated by its investment banking activities, which are dependent on financial market conditions.