Deutsche Bank records biggest profit in a decade

FRANKFURT: Germany’s largest lender Deutsche Bank on Thursday announced it had booked its highest profit in 10 years, driven by its investment arm after a difficult period of restructuring.

In 2021, Deutsche Bank recorded a €1.9 billion ($2.1 billion) net profit, having posted a more slender €100 million margin in 2020, as the world economy was buffeted by the first waves of the coronavirus pandemic.

The result was achieved while putting “almost all” of Deutsche’s transformation costs behind it, chief executive officer Christian Sewing said.

The bank was reaping the rewards of the strategic overhaul it decided on in July 2019, turning its focus more towards Europe and withdrawing from riskier businesses.

The bank’s positive result in 2020 was the first it had recorded since 2014.

Its worst-ever year came in 2016, when it lost €6.8 billion, mostly related to investment banking activities in the years around the financial crisis.

The bank’s restructuring involves shedding 18,000 jobs between 2019 and 2022 to reduce the number of employees globally to 74,000.

In 2021, revenues at the bank climbed six per cent to €25.4 billion.

In its flagship investment arm, receipts were up four per cent to €9.6 billion, pulled by its advisory work, with profits before tax rising 17 per cent to €3.7 billion.

Deutsche’s corporate banking activities saw its pre-tax profit rise to €1 billion, up 86 per cent, while its private bank followed up last year’s pre-tax loss with a €366-million profit.

At the same time, Deutsche Bank’s asset management division saw its taxable profits rise 50 per cent to €816 million.

Shareholders will be rewarded with a dividend of €0.20/share for 2021, as Deutsche Bank announced on Wednesday, after two years where it was not paid out.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, the group booked a net profit of €145 million, almost triple its result in the same quarter in 2020.

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