Deutsche Bank posts 4th-quarter profit of 1.8 billion, following loss a year earlier

Deutsche Bank reports 4Q profit of 1.8 billion

FRANKFURT — Germany’s Deutsche Bank AG on Thursday reported net earnings of euro1.3 billion ($1.8 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2009, a figure that was bolstered by tax benefits.

The bank, based in Frankfurt and Germany’s biggest by assets, said the fourth-quarter profit compared with a loss of euro4.8 billion in the final three months of 2008.

It was buoyed by a euro554 million gain from tax benefits that arose from a decision to recognize deferred tax assets in the U.S. of some euro790 million.

For the full year, the bank earned euro5 billion. That compared with a loss of euro3.9 billion in 2008, when earnings were hit hard by the global economic crisis.