Deutsche Bank sees lower 2021 revenues, but hikes CEO pay, staff bonuses

Deutsche Bank AG expects 2021 revenues to be lower than the 2020 level.

The German bank also said CEO Christian Sewing's pay for 2020 increased to €7.4 million from €5.0 million a year ago after the company posted its first annual profit in six years.

Deutsche Bank said revenues are likely to drop as volatility and industry volumes in investment banking normalize after high levels in 2020. It expects growth to resume in 2022.

The lender reaffirmed its 2022 financial plan, which included a targeted return on tangible equity of 8%.

It also expects provision for credit losses to be slightly lower in 2021 than in 2020, and to drop further, to between 25 basis points and 30 basis points, in 2022. Its common equity Tier 1 ratio is expected to remain above its targeted 12.5% in 2021, but it could see an impact of roughly 80 basis points due to regulatory changes.

Meanwhile, CEO Christian Sewing's pay for 2020 increased by about 46% year over year.

The German bank's annual report showed that bonuses for investment bankers grew to €876 million, also a 46% increase from the previous year's €602 million, following growth in the investment bank's revenue, which helped drive the group's profit in the fourth quarter.

Year-end performance-based bonuses for all employees rose to €1.86 billion from €1.44 billion in 2019.

Deutsche Bank initially wanted to increase its bonus pool by about a third, but the European Central Bank opposed the plan.