Deutsche Bank Reports Rising FX Revenues in Q4, January Profitable Even with Franc Losses

Deutsche Bank reported its Q4 2014 financials today. Shares of the German bank are trading higher today by nearly 5% after the firm surprised traders by reporting net profit of €438M versus analyst estimates of a €289M loss.

Helping boost profits was an increase of foreign exchange (FX) related revenues. While not itemizing specific FX profits, it was part of the bank’s Debt Sales and Trading unit which saw revenues increase 13% to €1.1 billion versus the same period in 2013. Among components cited by Deutsche Bank for the increase in revenues, the firm specifically mentioned FX trading as they stated in their public release: “Foreign Exchange revenues increased compared to Q4 2013 due to higher client activity and increased volatility.”

Swiss Franc Impact

In addition to speaking about the past, the bank brought up the present in its earnings conference call. Having been reported to have lost around $150 million in traded related losses from the Swiss franc volatility earlier this month, Deutsche Bank’s performance is being tracked closely within the FX industry as they are one of the largest Liquidity providers by volume in the world.

Speaking about the Black Thursday Swiss franc event, Co-CEO Anshu Jain acknowledged that the bank had sustained losses that day. But he told analysts during the conference call, that despite the losses they expected to achieve overall profits in January from their FX trading business.