Deutsche Bank, Germany’s largest bank, posted a net attributable profit of 113 million euros in 2020, compared with a loss of 5,718 million euros in the previous year, thanks to good results in the investment banking division, the bank said.

Deutsche Bank’s turnover reached 24,028 million euros, 3.7% more than a year earlier, with 32% growth in the investment banking business to 9,283 million euros, driven by market volatility.

The rest of the bank’s business units recorded falls in turnover, with a 2% decline in the corporate area to 5,145 million euros and 1% in the private banking business to 8,126 million euros, while the asset management division posted 4% less income to 2,229 million.

In 2020 as a whole, Deutsche Bank raised provisions for credit impairment to €1,792m, 148% more than in 2019, when it set aside €723m.

In the last quarter of 2020, the bank posted an attributable net profit of €51m, in contrast to the ‘red numbers’ of €1.518bn posted in the fourth quarter of 2019, while its turnover rose 1.9% to €5.453bn and provisions for credit risk stabilised at €251m, compared with €247m a year earlier.

On the other hand, the German bank highlighted that its adjusted costs in 2020 decreased by 9% to 19.5 billion euros, in line with expectations, after twelve consecutive quarters of reduction.

«In the most important year of our transformation, we were able to more than offset transformation-related effects and high credit provisions, despite the global pandemic,» said Christian Sewing, Deutsche Bank’s chief executive officer, who said the bank has built a firm foundation for sustainable profitability and is confident that this overall positive trend will continue in 2021.

Source: Expansión.