Deutsche Bank profits boosted by legal settlements [Video]

Germany’s biggest lender Deutsche Bank on Wednesday reported a sharp jump in third-quarter profits, boosted by the settlement of investor lawsuits related to a troubled takeover.

Net profits came in at 1.46 billion euros ($1.58 billion), up 42 percent from a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by financial data firm FactSet had forecast a figure of 1.32 billion euros.

Profits were lifted by a settlement in August with some former shareholders of Postbank, who took legal action against Deutsche Bank alleging that a takeover had shortchanged them.

This allowed Deutsche Bank to cut provisions that had been set aside for the cases.

“We made important progress in putting legacy litigation matters behind us, while also producing a record third-quarter profit in our operating business,” said Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing.

In the second quarter, Deutsche Bank had booked a loss of 143 million euros, dragged down by the huge provision it …