Higher interest rates helped German lender Commerzbank achieve record profits last year, with net income rising to more than €2.2 billion ($2.4 billion) in 2023 from €1.4 billion in the previous year. Commerzbank chief executive Manfred Knof said that the bank would “increase the result again in the current year.” Knof had pushed through a series of cost-cutting and savings measures since taking over at Commerzbank at the beginning of 2021. The bank has cut thousands of jobs and significantly reduced its branch network in Germany. Commerzbank’s 2022 results were dragged down by more than €1 bi…