Deutsche Bank announced on Thursday a strategic move to eliminate 3,500 positions, launch a share repurchase program, and distribute dividends, signalling to investors its commitment to continuing its recovery path. This announcement came as Germany’s premier bank aims to shift its focus towards more stable retail banking sectors despite a 30% decrease in fourth-quarter earnings, which still surpassed market forecasts.
Deutsche Bank Plans To Fire 3,500 Employees Despite Upbeat Results
Previously, Deutsche Bank had disclosed intentions to reduce its workforce but had not specified the scale of these layoffs, which now represent nearly 4% of its approximately 90,000 employees globally, impacting mainly back-office functions.
The bank plans to allocate €1.6 billion ($1.7 billion) for share buybacks and dividends in the first half of the year, alongside an uplifted revenue growth outlook, leading to a 4% rise in its share price during early trading in Frankfurt.
These developments occur at a pivotal moment for Deutsche Bank, which saw its retail banking sector outperform the investment banking division in 2023, reversing the latter’s dominance over the past three years. Higher interest rates and a decline in global deal-making activities facilitated this shift.
Despite expectations of central banks reducing interest rates that have bolstered bank profits, analysts anticipate the retail banking sector to continue leading ahead of investment banking in the coming years.
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After enduring years of losses, Deutsche Bank embarked on a significant restructuring in 2019, aiming to reduce its reliance on unpredictable investment banking revenue. However, the transition has been challenging, especially as regulatory scrutiny intensified following issues with integrating its Postbank unit, which resulted in customer service failures.
The decline in quarterly profit was attributed to restructuring costs and other one-time charges, although the decrease was less severe than analysts had anticipated.
The bank reported a net profit of €1.26 billion for the quarter, down from €1.803 billion the previous year but above the expected €700 million. The full-year profit also exceeded forecasts, totalling €4.21 billion compared to the anticipated €3.664 billion.
This downturn in quarterly earnings marks the most significant drop since Deutsche Bank’s financial stabilization earlier in the decade. Nevertheless, the bank has now achieved profits for 14 consecutive quarters and four straight years, demonstrating a remarkable turnaround.
