The headquarters of Germany's Deutsche Bank are pictured in Frankfurt, Germany, September 21, 2020. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski/File Photofourth-quarter profit surged, exceeding expectations and contributing to a third consecutive year of profit that was helped by higher interest rates and buoyant trading but damped by a slump in dealmaking that has shaken the industry.
Net profit attributable to shareholders was 1.803 billion euros in the three months ending Dec. 31, figures published on Thursday showed. That compares with a profit of 145 million euros a year earlier, and it is better than analyst expectations for a profit of around 951 million euros. It was a tenth consecutive quarter of profit, making for the longest streak in the black in at least a decade.
For the full year, profit was 5.025 billion euros, up from 1.940 billion a year ago and better than expectations for 4.174 billion euros. It was the largest annual profit since 2007, Deutsche said, and was helped by a 1.4 billion euro tax benefit.Germany's biggest bank exceeded a key profit target - so-called return on tangible equity of 8% - with a figure of 9.4%, a milestone that Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing had set for the bank when it embarked on a major overhaul in 2019.