Deutsche Bank wants to become more profitable. According to its new strategy, the return on tangible equity (RoTE) is to rise from the current level of more than 10% to at least 13%. Cost savings of 2 billion euros as part of a new efficiency programme are to contribute to this. It is intended to limit the annual average increase in costs to 2% despite investments in new technologies and growth, as Christian Sewing's management team made clear on Monday in London. The new forecasts are based exclusively on projects that have already been decided, such as the German government's investment package. Positive effects from possible regulatory relief in the wake of the wave of deregulation in the US have not been taken into account.

Analysts were sceptical about whether the bank would be able to achieve its targets. Jefferies analyst Joseph Dickerson left the stock at „hold“ with a price target of 33 euros. He questioned what internal levers the bank could pull to increase profitability. Potential fiscal tailwinds are uncertain, especially as growth forecasts for Germany have already been revised downwards. Investors apparently took a similar view: the share, which has risen sharply so far this year, closed almost 4% lower.

Now that Deutsche Bank has sharpened its profile and significantly increased its profitability as part of its realignment to become a „global house bank,“ Sewing is setting his sights on more ambitious targets: „In the long term, we want to be the European champion.“ A number of target figures will be achieved in 2025. These include a return on equity (ROE) of more than 10%, which analysts view with scepticism, and a cost/income ratio of less than 65%.

With stable costs of 20.6 billion euros, Deutsche Bank expects revenues to rise by 6.3% to 32 billion euros in 2025. Before taxes, this will result in a jump in profits of almost 90% to around 10 billion euros. The bank expects growth momentum to slow in the coming years, forecasting average annual growth of 5% until the end of 2028.

Dividends to shareholders are set to increase from 2026 onwards. This is not only thanks to the targeted profit increases, but also to an increase in the payout ratio from 50% to 60%. In addition to the annual dividend, Deutsche Bank also plans to continue its share buyback programmes. Deutsche Bank defines distributable surplus capital as anything above a sustainable core capital ratio (CET1) of 14% over the next three years.

In order to increase its potential for payouts, Deutsche Bank plans to reallocate to business areas with higher value creation as part of its new strategy, which is primarily focused on shareholder value. The aim is to reduce or eliminate the capital burden from areas with returns below target. The smallest business area will continue to generate the highest expected returns in the future. The target for asset management is a ROE of more than 40%, followed by corporate banking (20%), private banking (18%) and investment banking (14%).