A message from Christian Sewing on Deutsche Bank’s 2025 results

Dear Colleagues,

2025 was a year we are unlikely to forget anytime soon. The world has become more complex and uncertain – and yet, it was precisely in this environment that we demonstrated how well we can support our clients. That, too, will be remembered.

We not only achieved our ambitious goals, but we set new standards. After years of hard work, we can now say with real confidence that we are stronger, more efficient, better controlled and closer to our clients than ever before.

The preliminary results we published this morning leave no doubt about this. We had the best fourth quarter in our bank’s history, and we also closed the full year 2025 with a record result. Pre-tax profit amounted to 9.7 billion euros – an increase of 84 percent compared to the previous year, which was impacted by specific litigation items. Net profit was 7.1 billion euros. 

That alone is a great achievement, but what makes me especially proud is how we delivered on all our goals and kept our promises to shareholders:

• This is true, first and foremost, in respect of our return on tangible equity (RoTE). This financial metric was always top of our hierarchy, and our aim for 2025 was to take it beyond the ten percent mark. At 10.3 percent, we achieved exactly that.
• We increased our revenues by 7 percent, reaching our ambition of 32 billion euros.
• Thanks to your continued cost discipline and the cumulative impact of our transformation efforts, we reported a cost/income ratio of 64 percent. Our 2025 goal was to push it to below 65 percent.
• We also remained disciplined in how we deploy our capital. At 14.2 percent, our Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio at the end of the year was above the operating range of 13.5 to 14 percent we set at the AGM last year.
• Finally, today we announced another share buyback in the amount of one billion euros which will commence in the near future. This means that we will pay out a total of at least 8.5 billion euros to our shareholders in the five-year period 2022 to 2026 – one more way in which we are keeping our promises.

It is also very encouraging that the performance of all four of our businesses was outstanding in 2025, with each generating RoTE of over 10 percent and double-digit profit growth. This clearly underscores how our Global Hausbank is built on four strong and complementary pillars. Each business works closely with our infrastructure units, which provide guardrails and support that are key factors for our bank’s success.

Working together in our clients’ best interests is what our purpose is all about and I am delighted to see this spirit become more firmly embedded in our bank.

All this was made possible by your dedication, your passion and your professionalism – not only in 2025, but year after year since the beginning of our transformation. For this, I thank you all sincerely on behalf of the entire Group Management Committee. You have shown that, with teamwork, we can rise to any challenge. That gives us a great deal of confidence going into the next stage of our strategy.

We have laid strong foundations for this with today’s results. And this strength is essential. The world remains uncertain, as geopolitical events since the beginning of the year keep showing us. At a time like this, our clients need to be able to rely on us. As a Global Hausbank, we are ideally positioned to offer them even more in this environment. And we are seeing rising demand from clients all over the world.

This creates enormous potential and we are determined to harness it. We know where we want to go, and we will not be diverted from that path. The presence of the Frankfurt public prosecutor's staff in our offices yesterday does nothing to change that. Of course, we will fully cooperate with the authorities to clarify legacy transactions. But apart from that, we are looking ahead with determination.

Back in November at our Investor Deep Dive, we presented our strategy for the next three years and our long-term vision. We are now pushing ahead with strong momentum. We will discuss what this means in more detail at this morning’s Annual Media Conference and in the Quarterly Check-In this afternoon. As always, you’re invited to join both events live.  

I look forward to engaging with you and to writing the next chapter for our bank – with your continued support. Let's head into 2026 with the same drive that powered our success in 2025 – with courage, unity and a firm determination to support our clients and thereby continue to grow the bank.

Christian