Germany's largest credit institution expanded its private banking dramatically.
The former problem child of the European banking industry posted its best results in 15 years. In the past financial year, Deutsche Bank increased its pre-tax profit by 65 percent to 5.6 billion euros ($6.1 billion).
Profit after tax more than doubled year-on-year to 5.7 billion euros, also the highest since 2007, the bank announced on Thursday. It also benefited from a one-off tax credit of 1.4 billion euros.
«Over the past three and a half years we have successfully transformed Deutsche Bank,» said Christian Sewing, Chief Executive Officer. «By refocusing our business around core strengths we have become significantly more profitable, better balanced, and more cost-efficient. In 2022, we demonstrated this by delivering our best results for fifteen years.»
Effective Build-Up
He has fundamentally repositioned the group in recent years. For example, investment banking was downsized and global equity trading was discontinued.
More than 150 relationship managers joined the company in 2022, and these investments continue to have a positive impact on revenues. They are leading to strong momentum in customer inflows, which have now been positive for twelve consecutive quarters.
International Private Bank
The International Private Bank (IPB), where Switzerland plays an important role as a booking center, was a bright spot for Deutsche Bank. The unit is headed by Claudio de Sanctis, the former European head of private banking at Credit Suisse. «The results show that our bank has successfully implemented its 'Compete to Win' transformation program,» said de Sanctis.
An Exceptional Year
For the full year, IPB reported revenues of 3.8 billion euros, up 19 percent year-on-year, or 9 percent adjusted for certain items, according to a statement. The business unit can look back on an exceptional year, particularly in terms of customer asset acquisition, it said.
Net new assets, for example, increased by 30 percent, according to the unit. The credit business also made a solid contribution.
Sale in Italy
In the fourth quarter, the unit generated an income of 1.2 billion euros, representing a 49 percent year-on-year increase. Adjusted for the gains on disposal from the sale of the financial advisory network in Italy and the activities of Sal. Oppenheim, the increase was 10 percent. Net new money inflows amounted to 4 billion euros, of which 3 billion euros were in investment products.
