Deutsche Bank posts biggest annual profit in 15 years

Germany’s Deutsche Bank on Thursday said it booked its highest annual profit since 2007 last year, thanks to higher interest rates and a major cost-cutting drive.

The bank recorded a 5.03-billion-euro ($5.5 billion) net profit for 2022, up from 1.9 billion euros a year earlier.

The strong showing includes a one-off tax benefit of 1.4 billion euros, Deutsche said.

“Over the past three and a half years we have successfully transformed Deutsche Bank,” CEO Christian Sewing said in a statement.

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Germany’s largest lender embarked on a strategic overhaul in 2019 that included thousands of job cuts and a bigger focus on Europe.

After years of losses, Deutsche returned to the black in 2020.

Full-year revenues for 2022 climbed to 27.2 billion euros, up seven percent on the previous year.

The increase was partly down to the European Central Bank’s interest rates hikes to combat inflation, which have ended years of ultra-low rates that had squeezed eurozone banks’ income.

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Deutsche’s earnings were also driven by revenue growth in its key investment banking and corporate banking divisions.

An uncertain economic outlook, fuelled by the war in Ukraine and fears of a downturn in Europe, led Deutsche to set aside loss provisions of 1.2 billion euros, compared with 515 million euros in 2021.

Deutsche will give an update on the bank’s strategy and outlook on March 2.

© Agence France-Presse