deutsche bank announced on Thursday that it had posted a record profit in the fourth quarter of 2025, the company’s earnings update coming amid a new investigation into money laundering allegations by German authorities.
Net profit attributable to shareholders was 1.3 billion euros ($1.56 billion) in the final quarter of this year, the German lender’s fourth-quarter earnings report said. This exceeded analysts’ expectations of 1.12 billion euros.
Overall, Deutsche Bank’s group revenue came in at 7.73 billion euros in the three months to December, in line with LSEG’s forecast of 7.72 billion euros.
Meanwhile, the CET 1 capital ratio, which provides a snapshot of banks’ solvency, was 14.2% in the fourth quarter, down slightly from 14.5% in the previous quarter and up from 13.8% in the same period in 2024.
The bank’s shares closed 1.9% lower.
Deutsche Bank.
Elsewhere, credit impairments (a measure of how a loan portfolio is adversely affected by credit losses) were 395 million euros, lower than analysts’ expectations of 408.3 million euros and down from 417 million euros in the third quarter.
Deutsche Bank Chief Financial Officer James von Moltke said the results marked an “extraordinary record year” for the bank’s fixed income and currencies business and asset management division DWS, with growth also seen in its private banking business.
Fixed income and foreign exchange revenues were outstanding, rising 6% year-on-year to €2 billion, the highest ever for the quarter.
On the other hand, 2025 was a year in which corporate activity “slightly weakened,” and investment banking and capital markets also slumped.
Deutsche Bank also announced plans for a new €1 billion share buyback program as part of its $2.9 billion capital distribution plan to shareholders.
“Good location”
In an interview with CNBC’s “Europe Early Edition,” von Moltke said all four of the bank’s businesses are “essentially very well positioned in this environment” and could deliver strong results in 2026. He said he is optimistic about expanding the IPO pipeline. He also acknowledged that a potential market correction is “difficult to speculate.”
“There is good reason to believe that (the market) may be overly stressed. There is good reason to believe that the market can continue to perform,” he said. “There’s a lot of risk to sentiment in the market right now, and barring some kind of disruptive event, we actually think the market is pretty constructive.”
He expressed optimism that German households would benefit from the country’s fiscal expansion, and said his company’s corporate banking business was well-positioned to take advantage of this wave of investment.
The fourth-quarter results were released a day after German federal prosecutors launched an investigation into money laundering charges at the bank and law enforcement raided Deutsche Bank offices in Frankfurt and Berlin.
Von Moltke said the bank is cooperating with the investigation into this matter. He declined to comment on specific client transactions, but acknowledged that Wednesday’s report pointed to transactions dating back to 2013 and 2018.
“The idea is that there may be a predicate of money laundering here, with late filing, late filing, late filing of potentially suspicious activity reports. Let’s see what emerges from that,” he added.
“This is due to a very long-ago deal. We have since invested significantly in our financial crime risk management capabilities. We believe these investments have been highly effective in positioning the company to protect itself and the market from potential money laundering.”
