Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft NYSE: DB said its first-half 2026 performance kept the lender on track to meet its annual objectives, supported by revenue growth across its businesses, strong capital and liquidity buffers, and continued expansion in loans and deposits.
Speaking during the bank’s second-quarter fixed-income call, Group Treasurer Richard Stewart said Deutsche Bank generated €17.2 billion in first-half revenue and €4.1 billion in post-tax profit, which he described as the company’s highest-ever profit for a half-year period. Post-tax return on tangible equity rose to 11.9%, while the cost-income ratio improved to 60.9% despite costs associated with strategic actions in the second quarter.
“We are pleased with the performance we delivered and the momentum we achieved in the first half of 2026,” Stewart said. The bank reiterated that it was on course to reach its full-year revenue ambition of about €33 billion and said the results reinforced its confidence in both its 2026 objectives and 2028 targets.
Business Momentum and Strategic Trends
Stewart said all of Deutsche Bank’s divisions generated returns on tangible equity of at least 12%. The private bank continued its transformation efforts, completed its planned 2026 branch closures, increased client assets by more than €55 billion during the first half, and continued to expand wealth-management coverage.
Asset management added €97 billion in assets under management during the second quarter, including record net client flows of €25 billion. The corporate bank increased business volumes in loans and deposits, while the investment bank supported customers during volatile markets and increased its market share in EMEA investment banking and capital markets, Stewart said.
The company also highlighted several structural developments that it believes could support future growth. These included German fiscal expansion and reforms, developments in private pensions, artificial intelligence adoption, Europe’s Savings and Investment Union initiative, and a regulatory focus on competitiveness and simplification.
Stewart said the European Commission’s initiatives and a potential temporary reprieve on Fundamental Review of the Trading Book requirements could help maintain European banks’ competitiveness in trading and capital markets. He cautioned, however, that the timing and final form of regulatory changes remain uncertain.
Capital, Loan Growth and Deposits
Deutsche Bank ended the second quarter with a common equity tier 1 ratio of 13.9%, up 11 basis points from the first quarter and within its 13.5% to 14% operating range. Its leverage ratio was 4.5%, compared with 4.7% a year earlier.
The bank’s CET1 MDA buffer stood at 270 basis points, or €10 billion, while its buffer to total capital requirements was 307 basis points. Its surplus over MREL and TLAC requirements reached €22 billion, an increase of approximately €5 billion from the prior quarter, partly reflecting a lower requirement received during the quarter.
Risk-weighted assets increased by €5 billion excluding foreign-exchange effects, primarily due to business growth in loans, commitments and guaranteed funds in asset management. Stewart said Deutsche Bank planned to launch new significant risk transfer platforms during the second half to create additional risk-weighted asset capacity.
Loans increased €5 billion, or 1%, in the second quarter to €491 billion. Growth came from trade finance and lending in the corporate bank as well as financing and solutions activity within fixed-income financing. Deposits rose €12 billion, or 2%, to €698 billion, led by increased sight deposits in corporate cash management.
Net interest income across core banking-book segments and other funding totaled €3.6 billion in the quarter. Deutsche Bank now expects full-year net interest income in those areas to slightly exceed its previous guidance of approximately €14 billion.
The bank said it had about €210 billion of stable non-interest-bearing deposits invested longer term through its hedge portfolio. It said it had locked in roughly 90% of the expected hedge-related net interest income benefit for 2027 and 80% for 2028.
Funding, Credit and Risk Discussion
Deutsche Bank reported a liquidity coverage ratio of 140%, with €237 billion of high-quality liquid assets, and a net stable funding ratio of 118%. It issued €2.9 billion of debt since its late-April fixed-income call, bringing year-to-date issuance to €9 billion, or more than 70% of the midpoint of its 2026 funding guidance.
Second-quarter issuance included a €1.25 billion additional tier 1 bond, a €1 billion senior non-preferred transaction, and CNY3.5 billion of senior preferred panda bonds. The company maintained its 2026 funding requirement of €10 billion to €15 billion and said it expects to issue primarily more senior instruments in the second half.
Chief Financial Officer Raja Akram said the bank remained alert to geopolitical uncertainty, inflation risks, commercial real estate conditions and private-credit risks. He said Deutsche Bank had built an overlay in the prior quarter to anticipate certain potential risks, although those risks had not materialized to date.
Akram said the company was proactively reducing risk in parts of its legacy commercial real estate portfolio, particularly offices on the U.S. West Coast, amid concerns that artificial intelligence could affect future office demand. He said the bank was not seeing deterioration in its portfolio or new defaults.
On deposits, Akram acknowledged competition in Germany, including promotional offers from new entrants, but said the impact on Deutsche Bank’s plans had been negligible. The bank’s wealth-management franchise provides an additional deposit source whose customers are generally less rate-sensitive, he said.
Akram also said Deutsche Bank’s data-center exposure was “probably high single digits,” was tightly managed, and focused on high-quality sponsors backed by large technology companies. The bank does not intend for the sector to grow disproportionately relative to its overall loan book, he said.
Finally, management reaffirmed its capital-return plans. Deutsche Bank continues to make CET1 deductions consistent with its 60% payout-ratio target and said its previously announced €500 million share repurchase from 2026 net income will begin after completion of the current €1 billion buyback program.
About Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft (NYSE:DB)
Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft is a global banking and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. Founded in 1870 to support German foreign trade, the firm has grown into a full-service bank offering a wide range of banking, advisory and transaction services to corporate, institutional, and private clients. Over its history the bank has expanded internationally and developed capabilities across capital markets, investment banking, retail and commercial banking, and wealth management.
The bank's core business activities include corporate and investment banking—covering financing, advisory, sales and trading, and capital markets services—along with private & commercial banking for individual and small-to-medium enterprise clients.
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