Deutsche Bank reported a sharp fall in profits for 2024 on Thursday, as Germany’s biggest lender was hit by legal costs related to a troubled takeover.
Net profit attributable to shareholders came in at €2.7 billion ($2.8 billion), down 36 percent from the previous year, the bank said in a statement.
Litigation costs were a hefty €1.7 billion ($1.77 billion)—much higher than the previous year—a big chunk of which stemmed from the saga related to Postbank.
Deutsche Bank in August reached settlements with dozens of former Postbank shareholders who had take legal action alleging that Deutsche’s takeover had shortchanged them.
“Our performance in 2024 was impacted by significant non-operating costs, particularly longstanding litigation items, and actions we took to accelerate the execution of our strategy,” said chief financial officer James von Moltke.
But he added that the lender had put the problems behind it, and was looking “ahead to 2025 having decisively reduced our risk profile”.
Revenues for the year came in at 30.1 billion euros, up four percent from 2023, driven by a 15-percent rise in investment banking revenues.
The bank confirmed its 2025 revenue goal of around €32 billion ($33.3 billion).
But it dropped a crucial cost target—it is now targeting a cost/income ratio of below 65 percent this year, compared to a previous goal of below 62.5%.
For 2024, the group will propose shareholder dividends of €0.68 per share, up from €0.45 the previous year.
Deutsche Bank has undergone major restructuring in recent years, seeking to rely more on retail and corporate banking after an aggressive shift in the early 2000s into investment banking drew it into multiple scandals.
