In Frankfurt, Deutsche Bank celebrates its results

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) Deutsche Bank’s results have boosted its share price on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange by more than 2 per cent. This morning, whilst the markets were still closed, Germany’s leading bank announced that it had recorded a net profit of €1.85 billion in the third quarter, up 2% and in line with expectations, supported by all business areas despite a still uncertain economic and financial environment. Revenue rose by 4 per cent year-on-year to €8.34 billion, despite a 2 per cent fall in investment banking revenue, which stood at €2.9 billion. This decline reflects, in particular, the contraction in activity on the fixed-income and foreign-exchange markets, which was only partially offset by strong growth in lending activities. Return on tangible equity (RoTE), net of tax, stood at 10.6 per cent, compared with 10.7 per cent in the third quarter of 2025, when it had benefited from favourable tax effects. The cost-to-income ratio stood at 62.4 per cent, compared with 64.4 per cent in the same quarter of the previous year. “We are delighted to have recorded our third consecutive quarter of record profits in 2026,” said CEO Christian Sewing. “We have increased revenue, with particularly strong results in the areas where we have focused our growth ambitions; we have recorded record inflows in asset management and savings collection, and achieved solid growth in lending and deposit volumes. We are also seeing encouraging signs in Germany, where growing customer confidence is creating new growth opportunities. Thanks to these results, RoTE rose to 11.5 per cent in the first nine months of 2026, with all four divisions exceeding 12 per cent. This performance puts us on track to meet our targets for 2026 and further strengthens our confidence in our potential to exceed the RoTE target of over 13 per cent in 2028.”

Positive assessments from JP Morgan analysts, who describe the results as ‘positive across the board, with the corporate banking segment finally showing a turnaround’. In detail, “pre-tax profit, the CET1 ratio and revenue are all above consensus estimates for the third quarter, whilst provisions for credit losses are also higher than expected”. J.P. Morgan believes the German bank is on track to meet its full-year revenue target and states that it may revise its earnings per share forecasts upwards in light of these results.

The investment bank RBC considers the operational trends revealed by the results to be “reassuring”. This relates in particular to revenue growth in the corporate client segment and the performance of investment banking, areas in which some competitors have fallen short of expectations. However, the trend in credit losses and the outlook provided by the bank suggest “higher levels than those factored into consensus estimates”. From a strictly financial perspective, third-quarter net profit was 9 per cent higher than the consensus, whilst reported pre-tax profit exceeded expectations by 10 per cent. However, provisions for credit risk also came in above the consensus. Revenue exceeded market estimates by 2 per cent, whilst costs were 2.4 per cent lower than analysts’ forecasts. The CET1 capital ratio also came in better than expected, standing at 14 per cent, compared with the 13.9 per cent forecast by the consensus. The bank therefore also recorded an improvement on the 13.9 per cent recorded in the previous quarter. Deutsche Bank confirmed its group revenue target of over €33 billion for the 2026 financial year, in line with the consensus estimate of €33.3 billion. “This forecast assumes that market conditions remain favourable. The targets set for 2028 have also been confirmed.”

Experts at DZ Bank are of a similar view, stating that Deutsche Bank has posted ‘strong results in the third quarter and is on track to meet its targets for the full year’. Analysts take a positive view of the capital markets environment for the German bank. Furthermore, substantial public investment is expected to drive an increase in demand for credit. Deutsche Bank could benefit from this scenario in both its investment banking segment and its traditional banking activities. DZ Bank forecasts average annual earnings growth of 10 per cent for Deutsche Bank over the coming years.