Media Release
March 13, 2025
Deutsche Bank publishes 2024 Annual Report and confirms outlook for 2025
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Deutsche Bank (XETRA: DBKGn.DE / NYSE: DB) today published its 2024 Annual Report containing its audited results for the year. There were no divergences from the bank’s 2024 preliminary unaudited results published on January 30, 2025. The Annual Report includes the bank’s Consolidated Financial Statements, the 2024 Compensation Report and management’s outlook for 2025.
Deutsche Bank’s 2024 Annual Report also contains the bank’s 2024 Sustainability Statement. This provides details of the progress on Deutsche Bank’s sustainability strategy and goals, together with an overview of the bank’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) frameworks and activities during 2024.
“2024 was a highly important year for us,” said Christian Sewing, Chief Executive Officer. “We demonstrated Deutsche Bank’s operating strength, grew our business with clients, and acted decisively to reduce our risk profile by putting significant nonoperating costs behind us. Our operating resilience enabled us to keep our promise of increasing capital distributions to shareholders.”
He added: “Our outlook for 2025 is positive. We expect continued growth momentum across our businesses in line with our ambition for revenues of around € 32 billion, boosting profitability as costs and risks normalize, and enabling us to hit our 2025 target for a Return on Tangible Equity above 10%. We also aim to exceed our goal of € 8 billion in capital distributions to shareholders in respect of the years 2021-2025.”
2024: strong underlying performance on the path to achieving 2025 targets
The bank’s 2024 audited results confirm its resilient operating performance, characterized by growth in revenues and business volumes, discipline in respect of operating costs, a solid capital ratio and continued growth in distributions to shareholders. The 2024 audited financial results included:
2025 Outlook: financial targets and capital objectives reaffirmed
Deutsche Bank’s outlook for 2025 reaffirms management’s guidance provided with the publication of the unaudited fourth-quarter 2024 results on January 30, 2025 and includes the following expectations:
Compensation Report: 2024 compensation reflects strong operating performance
Total compensation awarded to Deutsche Bank employees was € 11.1 billion in respect of 2024, up from € 10.3 billion in 2023. Within this total:
Management Board compensation reflected changes introduced in 2024 to reduce complexity, increase transparency and further align Management Board compensation with the long-term interests of shareholders. The Long-Term Incentive component is now determined using a three-year, forward-looking assessment period instead of using past performance as in previous years. Accordingly, the Long-Term Incentive for 2024 will be determined at the end of the performance period 2024-2026.
Compensation of current Management Board members, on a pro forma basis and assuming 100% achievement of the 2024 Long-Term incentive target over the period 2024-2026, would be € 68.1 million in 2024. In 2023, compensation for current Management Board members was € 58.3 million, on an actual basis and reflecting a 77.53% achievement level of the Long-Term Incentive component, calculated on past performance over the period 2021-2023. As such, pro forma figures for 2024 are not directly comparable to the actual compensation levels in previous reports. Management Board compensation reflects performance against the targets set individually for each Management Board member which are set out in detail in the Compensation Report.
The Compensation Report, published today on pages 560-611 of the Annual Report, provides further information on Deutsche Bank’s compensation frameworks, policies and governance, together with further details on compensation of Management Board and Supervisory Board members.
Sustainability Statement: progress on multiple fronts in 2024
Deutsche Bank’s 2024 Sustainability Statement, published on pages 190-367 of the 2024 Annual Report, was prepared according to the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) as permitted by the German Commercial Code (HGB). This provides information on the bank’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) policies, frameworks, activities and progress during 2024. In previous years, large parts of this information were covered by the bank’s Non-Financial Report.
In 2024, Deutsche Bank’s progress on its sustainability strategy included:
Growth in sustainable Financing and ESG investment volumes2 to € 373 billion cumulatively since January 1, 2020 (excluding DWS). During 2024, volumes were € 93 billion, up by 46% from 2023. Progress within the bank’s businesses during 2024 was as follows:
Additionally, ESG assets under management in DWS rose from € 133 billion to € 163 billion during 2024.
Strengthening frameworks in key areas during 2024. In January, the Sustainable Finance framework was updated and deepened to ensure that the classification of lending and bonds issuance meets best-in-class standards. The bank also published its Sustainable Finance Instrument Framework, which expanded the bank’s Green Financing Framework to include categories of social assets for refinancing. In July, Deutsche Bank issued its inaugural social bond, raising €500 million, which was 13 times oversubscribed. In November, Deutsche Bank published an ESG Investment Framework which provides transparency on the classification methodology for assets under management.
Decarbonizing Deutsche Bank’s portfolio. Financed Scope 1 and 2 emissions of clients in the seven key carbon-intensive sectors in Deutsche Bank’s corporate loan portfolio covered by net-zero targets fell by 5 percentage points, and Scope 3 emissions by 4 percentage points, compared to year end 2023. This was driven by further reductions from the respective baseline year in several carbon intensive sectors including Power Generation and Steel.
From 2025, aviation will be added as an eighth sector with a carbon pathway target for 2030 (interim) and a net zero target for 2050.
Rating improvements: Deutsche Bank’s progress was recognized in rating improvements from five leading independent agencies during 2024. The bank’s MSCI ESG rating was upgraded from A to AA; the S&P Global Sustainable Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) score improved from 54 to 67 out of 100, placing Deutsche Bank in the top 10% of the agency’s Diversified Financials and Capital Markets sector; the bank’s ISS ESG rating improved to C+ (Prime status) for the first time; the Sustainalytics ESG Risk Rating improved from 27.9 to 24.8, and the CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project) Management rating was stable at B, with a score of A or A- in 13 out of 17 categories.
Employees: progress on equal opportunities, talent development and governance
The bank made further progress on its equal opportunity ambitions. These follow the requirements of Germany’s Stock Corporation Act (Aktiengesetz) and Second Equal Participation of Men and Women in Management Positions Act (Zweites Führungspositionengesetz) for female representation at senior levels. In 2024:
The bank’s talent acceleration programs for both Directors and Vice Presidents were expanded in 2024; 526 employees were included in talent acceleration programs, up from 458 in 2023. 42.8% of Director acceleration program participants and 45.5% of Vice President acceleration program participants were women.
Investment in talent and development continued during 2024. Employees completed 1.76 million hours of training, of which approximately half were mandatory; The bank hired 1,160 graduates globally in 2024.
Governance remained a key area of focus in 2024. Deutsche Bank strengthened its control environment in several key areas in 2024, adding further Anti-Financial Crime specialists and significantly widening staff training. Progress included:
Deutsche Bank’s Sustainability Data Compendium 2024, published today for the first time, provides statistical information on the topics included in the Sustainability Statement together with further sustainability topics including In-house Ecology and Corporate Social Responsibility.
Other financial and regulatory reports
Today, Deutsche Bank also published its 2024 Pillar 3 Report and 2024 Annual Financial Statements of Deutsche Bank AG under German accounting rules (HGB). In addition, the Annual Report on Form 20-F 2024 will be made available.
1 For a description of this and other non-GAAP financial measures, see ‘Use of non-GAAP financial measures’ below, and on pp 15-22 of the fourth quarter 2024 Financial Data Supplement. As reported on January 30, 2025, Deutsche Bank’s 2025 net revenue outlook is around € 32.0 billion at August 2024 foreign exchange rates and around € 32.8 billion at December 2024 foreign exchange rates.
2 Cumulative ESG volumes include sustainable financing (flow) and ESG investments (stock) in the Corporate Bank, Investment Bank, Private Bank and Corporate & Other from January 1, 2020 to date. Products in scope include capital market issuance (bookrunner share only), market making activities (annual average volume of eligible bond inventory), sustainable financing, period-end assets under management and period-end pension plan assets (gross assets). Cumulative volumes and targets do not include ESG assets under management within DWS, which are reported separately by DWS.
Final and audited results at a glance
About Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank provides retail and private banking, corporate and transaction banking, lending, asset and wealth management products and services as well as focused investment banking to private individuals, small and medium-sized companies, corporations, governments and institutional investors. Deutsche Bank is the leading bank in Germany with strong European roots and a global network.
Forward-looking statements contain risks
This release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they include statements about the bank’s beliefs and expectations and the assumptions underlying them. These statements are based on plans, estimates and projections as they are currently available to the management of Deutsche Bank. Forward-looking statements therefore speak only as of the date they are made, and the bank undertakes no obligation to update publicly any of them in the light of new information or future events.
By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. A number of important factors could therefore cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Such factors include the conditions in the financial markets in Germany, in Europe, in the United States and elsewhere from which Deutsche Bank derives a substantial portion of the bank’s revenues and in which it holds a substantial portion of its assets, the development of asset prices and market volatility, potential defaults of borrowers or trading counterparties, the implementation of the bank’s strategic initiatives, the reliability of its risk management policies, procedures and methods, and other risks referenced in the filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Such factors are described in detail in our SEC Form 20-F of March 13, 2025, under the heading “Risk Factors”. Copies of this document are readily available upon request or can be downloaded from www.db.com/ir.
Basis of Accounting
Results are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IASB”) and endorsed by the European Union (“EU”), including,from 2020, application of portfolio fair value hedge accounting for non-maturing deposits and fixed rate mortgages with pre-payment options (the “EU carve-out”). Fair value hedge accounting under the EU carveout is employed to minimise the accounting exposure to both positive and negative moves in interest rates in each tenor bucket thereby reducing the volatility of reported revenue from Treasury activities.
For the full-year 2024, application of the EU carve out had a negative impact of € 1.4 billion on profit before taxes and of € 976 million on profit. For the same time period in 2023, the application of the EU carve out had a negative impact of € 2.3 billion on profit before taxes and of € 1.6 billion on profit. The Group’s regulatory capital and ratios thereof are also reported on the basis of the EU carve-out version of IAS 39. As of December 31, 2024, application of the EU carve-out had a negative impact on the CET1 capital ratio of about 68 basis points compared to a negative impact of about 43 basis points as of December 31, 2023. In any given period, the net effect of the EU carve-out can be positive or negative, depending on the fair market value changes in the positions being hedged and the hedging instruments.
Use of non-GAAP financial measures
This report and other documents Deutsche Bank has published or may publish contain non-GAAP financial measures. Non-GAAP financial measures are measures of the bank’s historical or future performance, financial position or cash flows that contain adjustments that exclude or include amounts that are included or excluded, as the case may be, from the most directly comparable measure calculated and presented in accordance with IFRS in the bank’s financial statements.
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