Deutsche Bank snaps 15-quarter profit streak after lawsuit provision

Deutsche Bank, Germany's largest lender, reported a net loss of 143 million euros ($155.1 million) in the second quarter, breaking a 15-quarter profit streak. The loss, attributed to a €1.3 billion ($1.41 billion) provision for an ongoing investor lawsuit over its Postbank division, contrasts with a profit of 763 million euros in the same period the previous year. This marks a setback for the bank's turnaround efforts under CEO Christian Sewing.

The loss was slightly better than the 145 million euros anticipated by analysts in an LSEG poll. Additionally, Deutsche Bank has faced scrutiny from German regulators for incorrectly disclosing deferred tax assets in its 2019 financial statement, which did not comply with international accounting standards. The German regulator, BaFin, estimated that approximately 2.076 billion euros worth of deferred tax assets had not been separately disclosed in the notes for the bank’s U.S. business. Despite these challenges, the bank reported a 2% increase in net income to 7.6 billion euros for the quarter, with its investment banking division seeing a 10% year-on-year revenue increase to 2.6 billion euros.