FRANKFURT, Oct 27 — Germany’s largest lender Deutsche Bank saw its net profit increase year-on-year in the third quarter, confirming its expectations for the coming year as it undergoes signficant structural changes.
The group booked a net profit of €194 million (RM934 million) between July and September, a seven per cent increase on the same period last year.
“In the third quarter, we again demonstrated the operating strength of our business,” Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing said in a statement.
The bank’s revenues were up two per cent in the quarter to €6.04 billion, despite a six-per cent fall in receipts in investment banking.
Following its withdrawal from equities trading, the branch drew almost three quarters of its revenues from fixed income and currency trading.
Business in this area, however, declined by 12 per cent, a value lower than that seen at competitors as the market “normalises”, Deutsche Bank chief financial officer James von Moltke said in a conference call.
Private banking activities, generally considered to be more stable, continued to struggle against historically low interest rates with revenues down two per cent, while asset management revenues were up 17 per cent.
Over nine months, a net profit of €1.8 billion makes it highly likely that the bank will be in the black at year’s end for the second time running, after six consecutive years of losses.
Deutsche Bank’s pre-tax profit rose by 15 per cent to €554 million in the third quarter, despite significant transformation costs, totalling €583 million.
The group is in the midst of a painful restructuring that includes shedding 18,000 jobs between 2019 and 2022 to reduce the number of employees globally to 74,000.
Deutsche Bank had around 84,500 employees at the end of September, around 2,500 fewer than a year ago. — AFP
