Deutsche Bank, Germany’s biggest lender, said Thursday that its net profit for 2014 more than doubled from the previous year, to a better-than-expected 1.7 billion euros ($1.9 billion).
The bank’s bosses, who introduced a drive to reduce costs and boost profitability when they took over in 2012, said they were “encouraged” by the group’s results but would not take their foot off the pedal.
Analysts polled by Factset had pencilled in a net profit for last year of 1.3 billion euros after the bank had posted 681 million euros in 2013.
The Frankfurt-based banking giant’s net revenue in 2014 remained stable at 32 billion euros and in line with expectations, it said.
Co-chief executives Juergen Fitschen and Anshu Jain said that each of the bank’s four core business divisions had, for the first time, reaped more than one billion euros in pre-tax profits.
“While we are encouraged by many of our full-year and fourth-quarter business results, we are working hard to further manage our cost base, maintain our capital strength and increase our returns to shareholders,” they said in a statement.
Costs linked to several legal cases, such as a probe into allegations of possible manipulation by banks in gold and silver price-fixing, have been reduced, the bank added.
Litigation costs have weighed on the group’s results in recent years.
Deutsche Bank also said its fourth-quarter net profit was 441 million euros after losses both in the same period a year earlier and in the third quarter.