The biggest profit since 2007 is a welcome milestone for the bank after a rocky decade.

Deutsche Bank posted its largest annual profit since 2007 after a stronger-than-expected fourth quarter, a day after police searched the bank in an alleged money-laundering probe.

Germany’s largest lender recorded net profit attributable to shareholders of 6.12 billion euros for 2025, helped by strength at its global investment bank.

That is above 2.7 billion euros a year earlier and slightly ahead of analyst expectations of nearly six billion euros.

The biggest profit since 2007 – and the sixth consecutive year in the black – is a welcome milestone for the bank after a rocky decade that saw big losses and fears among regulators that the bank was teetering.

The 2025 financial year also closes out a three-year financial plan in which Deutsche Bank pledged and met a key profit target – so-called return on tangible equity – of more than 10 per cent.

The bank is now working towards a new 2028 target of 13 per cent that analysts currently think it may miss.

“This gives us the strongest possible foundation for the next phase of our strategy,” said Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing.

For the final quarter of the year, net profit was 1.3 billion euros, up from 106 million euros a year earlier. It topped analyst expectations for a profit of around 1.12 billion euros.

The bank also said it had authorised one billion euros in buybacks. For 2026, the bank expects revenues to grow to around 33 billion euros, up from 32.1 billion euros.

Deutsche’s investment bank, which operates from Sydney to New York, remained the biggest revenue generator in the quarter, with 5 per cent increase in revenue, roughly in line with expectations.

Within the investment bank, revenue for fixed-income and currency trading business, one of the bank’s largest, rose 7 per cent and beat expectations for a 4 per cent gain.