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Deutsche Bank shares have traded above their book value for the first time since the start of the global financial crisis, marking a milestone in the turnaround of Germany’s largest lender after years of legal setbacks, writedowns and restructuring.
The stock rose to €33.95 in early trading on Monday, climbing above the bank’s most recent reported book value per share of €33.66, a measure of total assets minus liabilities excluding shareholders’ equity.
Price to book ratio is a key valuation metric for banks, reflecting investor confidence in a lender’s assets, returns and growth outlook. Deutsche had traded at a discount to its book value since early 2008, when doubts about the health of the banking sector were mounting in the early stages of the financial crisis.
Passing the milestone is a boost for chief executive Christian Sewing, who has vowed to turn the lender into “the European champion in banking”.
At its lowest point in March 2020, the stock fell below €5, or 0.19 times book value, with investors fearing that the economic downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic could derail Sewing’s restructuring plan.
At the time, Deutsche’s earnings were dragged down by the European Central Bank’s negative interest rates as well as billions of euros in restructuring costs, while its job-cutting plans were hit by delays.
Investor confidence has slowly returned during a broad three-year rally in European bank shares. Deutsche has resolved long-running legal battles, including relating to mis-selling of mortgage-backed securities, exited lossmaking ventures such as its equities trading division, and increased its focus on fixed-income trading and corporate banking.
Despite roughly doubling over the past year, the German bank’s shares are still around half their level in early 2008. The bank’s market capitalisation — then about €35bn — has risen to about €65bn, after it raised about €33bn in fresh equity, most recently in 2017, to shore up a balance sheet hit by legal penalties and the costly acquisition of retail lender Postbank.
Deutsche reported in October its highest nine-month profits since 2007.
Berlin’s debt-financed investment drive is expected to benefit Deutsche’s investment banking arm as an adviser on sovereign bond issuance and corporate restructuring, according to analysts, while its lending business should profit from rising corporate credit demand.
Some investors remain cautious. “The recent share price gains simply reflect the move from negligible earnings to average profitability,” said Andreas Thomae, a strategist at Deka, a top-20 shareholder.
Analysts are confident Deutsche will hit its target of a 10 per cent return on tangible equity — a key profitability measure — when it reports its results for 2025. Its goal of reaching returns of 13 per cent by 2028 still lags those of European peers, which are aiming for up to 22 per cent.
Deutsche “will never reach the profitability levels of BBVA or Santander”, Thomae said, citing the bank’s capital-consuming investment banking division.
Despite the recent rally in the bank’s share price, its annualised total return over the past decade still trails the Stoxx600 Banks index as well as rivals such as Italy’s UniCredit and France’s BNP Paribas.
Deutsche’s performance is also overshadowed by domestic rival Commerzbank, whose price-to-book ratio has rebounded from 0.13 in March 2020 to more than 1.4 in 2025, helped by a potential takeover offer from UniCredit.
Deutsche’s problems integrating Postbank have weighed on its retail arm, though profitability has improved after branch closures and job cuts. DWS, its asset management arm, continues to face pressure in alternative investments despite inflows into low-margin passive products such as exchange traded funds.
While DWS is looking for acquisition targets, Sewing has ruled out major deals by the parent group. “When I still have the chance to get significantly better through my own effort, I don’t want to let anything hold me back from that,” he said last year.