CARY – Deutsche Bank’s net profit fell 65 percent in the third quarter but CEO Christian Sewing said the bank made progress cutting costs and would show its first full-year profit since 2014. Meanwhile, the German-based financial institution continues to hire in Cary.
The earnings news Wednesday came a day after the company received a two-year extension from the state of North Carolina for plans to add 250 jobs at its operations in Cary. Deutsche Bank cited “changing business conditions.” The firm had announced plans to add jobs in 2015.
“This led to curbing the plans to restructure our technology footprint,” the company said, according to a report in the Triangle Business Journal.
Deutsche Bank bases its software and applications development group in Cary.
The company has declined comment to WRAL TechWire about any impacts of layoffs on the Cary operation this year.
Help wanted ads continue to point to ongoing hiring at the Cary outpost with several openings having been posted in recent days.
Still hiring in Cary, Deutsche Bank says job cuts will continue
In its financial report, Deutsche Bank said profit decreased to 229 million euros ($262 million) from 649 million euros in the same quarter a year ago, as income from trading stocks and bonds fell 15 percent amid lower client activity. Revenue dropped 9 percent, to 6.175 billion euros.
Sewing said in a statement Wednesday that “this result is another milestone on our way to becoming a sustainably profitable bank” and said the bank was “on track” to turn in a full-year profit.
Investors remained skeptical, sending the bank’s shares 3.9 percent lower to 8.95 euros in morning trading in Europe.
Deutsche Bank has struggled with weak earnings and costs from regulatory and legal fines, settlements and penalties, losing money for three straight calendar years. The bank replaced CEO John Cryan with Sewing in April amid promises to move faster to cut costs and focus the bank’s activities more on its European base rather than compete with U.S. financial institutions on Wall Street.
It has been shedding riskier holdings and lines of businesses it no longer sees as long-term prospects.
The bank said it was on track to meet its targets for cost and staff reductions this year, having shed 2,800 jobs this year to bring headcount to 94,717, on the way to well below 90,000 by the end of 2019.
Adjusted costs fell 1 percent to 5.5 billion euros, as reductions in professional services and other spending to outside entities more than offset higher spending at the bank’s retail banking division, where it is integrating its private and commercial banking business with its Postbank retail banking business. Management expects to save 900 million euros by 2022 by combining the head office and infrastructure.
