Germany's Deutsche Bank beats forecasts with near-record profit

Deutsche Bank on Wednesday posted a near-record second-quarter profit, beating expectations as strong growth at its investment bank boosted earnings.

The German lender reported a pre-tax profit of €2.68 billion ($3.05 billion), only slightly below the level recorded in the same period of its record year in 2007.

Net profit rose 10% from a year earlier to €1.64 billion, although it remained slightly below the 2007 figure.

Deutsche Bank also said it planned to spend a further €500 million on share buybacks in the second half of the year.

"These developments, together with our record performance in 2026 to date, reinforce our confidence that we have upside to our 2028 targets," chief executive Christian Sewing said.

Sewing, who took over in April 2018 after years of crises at the bank, is aiming to raise its return on equity to more than 13%. The figure stood at 11% in the second quarter.

Return on equity measures how efficiently a bank uses its capital to generate profit.

"Looking ahead, the rapid evolution of AI gives us added scope to deliver value to clients and make additional cost savings," Sewing said.

The investment bank performed particularly strongly between April and June. The division, which earns money from corporate financing and advisory services as well as stock market listings and securities issuance, increased its pre-tax profit by almost 60% year-on-year to €1.3 billion.