FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Deutsche Bank reported a 30% drop in fourth-quarter profit on Thursday as restructuring costs and other one-off expenses outweighed revenue gains, but the fall did not was not as significant as analysts feared.
Germany’s largest bank also announced a share buyback plan and dividend payment totaling 1.6 billion euros and revised upwards its revenue growth outlook.
The group also said it planned to cut around 3,500 jobs.
Net profit, group share, amounted to 1.26 billion euros during the quarter, compared to 1.803 billion euros a year ago, and above the expectations of analysts, who were counting on a profit of around 700 million euros.
Profit for 2023 fell to 4.21 billion euros, compared to 5.03 billion euros a year earlier, while analysts expected 3.664 billion euros.
The drop in quarterly profit is the largest since the bank’s revenues stabilized at the start of the decade, after years of losses.
However, these figures mark the 14th consecutive quarter of profits and the fourth consecutive year of profits.
German financial regulator BaFin recently warned that 2024 would be less favorable for bank profits due to the real estate crisis which risks making some loans irrecoverable.
Still, Deutsche Bank was optimistic, raising its compound annual growth rate target from 3.5% to 4.5% to 5.5% and 6.5% to 6.5%.
CEO Christian Sewing said he was “firmly convinced” that Deutsche Bank could achieve its targets for 2025.
(Reporting Tom Sims and Frank Siebelt; Stéphanie Hamel, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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