Deutsche Bank posts record profits, strives to be Europe's top bank

Profits for Germany's Deutsche Bank jumped to a record high in 2025, with the bank posting its best-ever pre-tax result, according to figures released on Thursday.

Pre-tax profits came in at €9.7 billion ($11.6 billion), up 84% year-on-year, the Frankfurt-based DAX-listed company said.

The bottom line was a net profit of €6.1 billion, Germany's largest financial institution reported. This was only below the €6.5 billion posted in the record year of 2007.

Following years of crisis, Deutsche Bank ended the year with a profit for the sixth consecutive year.

Chief executive officer Christian Sewing said the bank was encouraged by the "strong start" to 2026. "Delivering on our 2028 agenda will enable us to reach our long-term goal: To become the European Champion in banking, as measured by a clearly defined set of criteria."

Shareholders are to be paid a dividend of €1 per share, around one and a half times as much as in the previous year. The bank also announced further share buybacks.

The business success is clouded by renewed investigations against managers and employees of the bank on suspicion of money laundering, which were made public the day before the balance sheet was presented.

Investigators on Wednesday raided Deutsche Bank's headquarters in Frankfurt and business premises in Berlin, among other places, in search of evidence.

According to the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor's Office, which is leading the investigation, the case concerns the bank's previous business dealings with foreign companies that are themselves suspected of money laundering.

"We know where we want to go, and we will not be deterred from this path," chief executive Sewing wrote to workers.

"Yesterday's action by the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor's Office does not change this. Of course, we will cooperate fully with the authorities to review past transactions. But otherwise, we are consistently looking ahead."

The raids were linked to transactions carried out between 2013 and 2018 within the complex conglomerate of companies owned by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, dpa has learnt.

Abramovich, who has been on the EU sanctions list since 2022, said that he was not aware of any investigations by German authorities into this matter, according to his lawyer.

Deutsche Bank has repeatedly been in trouble amid accusations of failing to properly monitor possible money laundering activity and failing to file suspicious activity reports on time.

Financial supervisory authority Bafin appointed a special watchdog to oversee the bank's progress in combating money laundering and terrorist financing until the end of 2024.

Deutsche Bank has upgraded its targets for the following years, with higher earnings and savings to boost the return on equity to more than 13%.

In 2025, the bank achieved 10.3%, exceeding its target of over 10%.

Sewing took over the helm of Germany's largest financial institution in 2018 when it was mired by a sustained crisis.

He moved to cut thousands of jobs and significantly downsized the bank's investment banking arm, bringing the bank back on track for growth.