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(Sharecast News) - Deutsche Bank reported record profit before tax of 7.7bn for the first nine months of 2025 on Wednesday, up 64% year on year, or 36% excluding Postbank litigation effects, as revenue rose 7% to 24.4bn and noninterest expenses fell 8% to 15.4bn.
Net profit climbed 76% to 5.6bn, with group return on tangible equity at 10.9% and the cost-to-income ratio at 63.0%, both in line with full-year targets.
Chief executive Christian Sewing said the bank was "on track to deliver on our 2025 financial targets" and "on course to return over 8bn to shareholders from 2022 to 2026," adding, "We have built firm foundations for the next phase of our strategy journey".
Third-quarter performance also set a record, with profit before tax of 2.4bn, up 8% from a year earlier - or 34% higher when adjusted for a prior-year Postbank provision release - while net profit rose 9% to 1.8bn.
Revenue increased 7% to 8bn as the investment bank delivered an 18% rise, led by a 19% gain in fixed-income and currencies and a 27% increase in origination and advisory amid stronger bond trading and debt issuance.
Credit provisions fell 16% to 417m.
The quarter's cost-to-income ratio was 64.4%; reported noninterest expenses rose 9% to 5.2bn due to the non-recurrence of last year's Postbank litigation release, while adjusted costs were flat at 5.0bn.
All four operating divisions produced double-digit profit growth and returns on tangible equity above 10% over the nine-month period.
The investment bank's profit before tax rose 18% to 3.3bn; the corporate bank posted 2bn, up 16%, with modest revenue headwinds from deposit margin normalisation; the private bank increased profit 71% to 1.8bn on 3% higher revenues and 675bn of assets under management after 25bn of year-to-date net inflows; and asset management's profit rose 48% to 666 million as revenues grew 13% to 2.2bn, with AuM at 1.05trn following 40bn of net inflows.
Across the private bank and asset management, net inflows totaled 66bn year to date.
Capital and liquidity strengthened further - the CET1 ratio improved to 14.5% at end-Q3 from 14.2% in Q2, supported by organic capital generation, while the leverage ratio was 4.6%.
The liquidity coverage ratio stood at 140% and the net stable funding ratio at 119%.
Shareholder distributions in 2025 reached 2.3bn after completing a second buyback, with 1.0bn repurchased year to date.
James von Moltke, chief financial officer, said "revenue momentum ... combined with ongoing cost discipline have delivered strong organic capital generation and a return on tangible equity above 10% in all three quarters of 2025 to date".
Management said revenue growth remained consistent with its around-32bn full-year ambition and reiterated guidance for provisions for credit losses to be lower in the second half than in the first.
Operational initiatives under the Global Hausbank strategy had realised or identified about 2.4bn of the 2.5bn efficiency programme, and risk-weighted-asset efficiency benefits had reached the high end of the 25bn to 30bn year-end target range.
Sewing called 2025 a "year of reckoning" as the bank approached its cost and profitability goals, with a strategy update for 2026 and beyond due in November.
At 1028 CET (0928 GMT), shares in Deutsche Bank were up 0.12% in Frankfurt at 29.64.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.