Deutsche Bank profits rise but cost pressures loom

Germany’s biggest lender Deutsche Bank said Wednesday it performed better in the first six months of 2022 than it has in more than a decade, but warned of increasing cost pressures down the line.

Deutsche Bank said in a statement that it booked net profit of one billion euros ($1 billion) in the second quarter of 2022, up 51 percent from the same period a year earlier.

Combined with the first three months of the year, that enabled Deutsche Bank to record its “best half-year profits since 2011” as it emerged form a painful restructuring process, chief executive Christian Sewing said.

Global revenues were up seven percent at 6.6 billion euros in the period from April to June, driven by the corporate banking division, where revenues jumped by 26 percent to 1.6 billion euros on the back of rising interest rates around the world.

Last week, the European Central Bank — which like Deutsche Bank is based in Frankfurt — raised its key rates by half a percentage point, its first hike in over a decade.

Deutsche Bank said revenues in its investment banking division rose by 11 percent to 2.6 billion euros, as its foreign exchange and fixed-income securities trading activities enjoyed their best second quarter “for 10 years”.

However, the lender warned of increasing costs related to inflation, the war in Ukraine and litigation.

Deutsche Bank faced “cost pressures in a more difficult environment than expected”, said chief financial officer, James von Moltke.

The litigation concerns include an investigation in the United States “into employees’ use of unapproved personal devices” to communicate with clients, Deutsche Bank said.

The invasion of Ukraine has also led to the “relocation of technology personnel” previously based in Russia, as Putin’s regime faces economic sanctions by the West.

Deutsche Bank launched its restructuring programme in 2019, shedding jobs and trimming the size of its investment banking operations.

sea/spm