By Tom Sims and Matthias Inverardi
FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Deutsche Bank on Wednesday posted a 7% increase in third-quarter profit, defying expectations for a drop after its global investment banking division generated a chunky increase in revenue.
The investment bank was again Deutsche’s biggest driver of income, lifted in the quarter by bond trading and debt issuance.
The figures come in the final stretch as Deutsche winds up a three-year plan and attempts to meet a series of targets that some analysts have doubted it would achieve.
“We are on track to deliver on our 2025 financial targets,” CEO Christian Sewing said.
Deutsche, Germany’s largest lender, recorded net profit attributable to shareholders of 1.56 billion euros ($1.82 billion) in the quarter, up from a profit of 1.46 billion euros a year earlier and better than analyst expectations for a profit of around 1.34 billion euros.
CONTINUOUS RETURN TO PROFIT
The earnings mark a nearly continuous return to quarterly profit over the past five years, making up for years of steep losses, as Sewing sought to stabilize one of the globe’s most significant lenders.
The bank’s quarterly results are part of a flurry of reports from Europe’s biggest banks, as investors search for evidence of how banks are weathering a tepid economy, the strong euro and a trade war.
Deutsche’s investment bank, which operates from Sydney to New York, posted an 18% increase in revenue, surpassing expectations for a 10.8% rise.
Within the investment bank, revenue for fixed-income and currency trading, one of the bank’s largest businesses, rose 19%, better than expectations for a 8.1% gain. Such revenue was up 21% at JPMorgan and 17% at Goldman.
Its origination and advisory business, after a bout of weakness, saw an increase of 27%, compared with expectations for a 24.4% rise. Deutsche recently revamped key roles at the division.
Among Deutsche’s European competitors, earnings at BNP Paribas came in below expectations and investment banking earnings at Barclays were mixed.
Deal-making has picked up this year since a slump amid the uncertainty of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on trading partners that fanned turmoil in markets and sparked concerns about slowing economic growth.
CEO Sewing has called 2025 a “year of reckoning” as Deutsche Bank faces a deadline to meet targets on costs and profitability.
Deutsche Bank is also working to formulate financial goals for 2026 and beyond and possibly tweak its strategy, with Sewing declaring that nothing is off limits. It will publish details in November.
Revenue growth at Deutsche’s other two big divisions was muted.
Revenue at the retail division was up 4%, close to expectations for a 3.4% rise. The corporate bank saw a 1% fall in revenue, while analysts had a rise of less than 1%.
DWS, the asset manager mostly owned by Deutsche Bank, posted a 34% increase in net profit.
($1 = 0.8575 euros)
(Reporting by Tom Sims and Matthias Inverardi; Editing by Kirsti Knolle and Kim Coghill)
