Deutsche Bank snaps 15-quarter profit streak on Postbank lawsuit provision

Deutsche Bank on Wednesday snapped a 15-quarter profit streak with a narrower-than-expected loss, as it made a provision for an ongoing lawsuit over its Postbank division.

Net loss attributable to shareholders was 143 million euros ($155.1 million), against an LSEG poll of analysts which had predicted a loss of 145 million euros.

Germany’s largest lender had previously flagged it would take a hit in the quarter on the back of the Postbank provision, which it confirmed Wednesday would amount to 1.3 billion euros. The long-running lawsuit by investors alleges Deutsche Bank underpaid to take over the retail banking giant in 2010.

Deutsche Bank reported net revenue was up 2% to 7.6 billion euros in the second quarter, while efficiency savings reached 1.5 billion euros.

Revenue at its investment bank division, a recent area of strength, jumped 10% year-on-year to 2.6 billion euros.

Other highlights included:

• Profit before tax excluding the Postbank provision was 1.7 billion euros, up from 1.4 billion euros in the second quarter of 2023.
• Provision for credit losses was 476 million euros, up from 401 million euros a year ago.
• CET 1 capital ratio, a measure of bank solvency, nudged up to 13.5% from 13.4% in the first quarter of the year.

“These results reflect Deutsche Bank’s operating strength,” Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing said in a statement.

“In the first half year our underlying profitability was the highest since 2011, which demonstrates the success of our strategic execution.”

The second-quarter result maintains a trend of earnings beats for the lender. Back in April, the bank posted a 10% rise in profit, logging its best quarterly result for the metric since 2013.

The lender came under fire at home last week, as German regulators criticized Deutsche Bank for incorrectly disclosing deferred tax assets in its 2019 financial statement, which were not in line with international accounting standards.

German regulator BaFin estimated that around 2.076 billion euros worth of deferred tax assets had not been disclosed separately in the notes for Deutsche Bank’s U.S. business.