Deutsche Bank posts unexpected third-quarter pre-tax profit

Deutsche Bank (LSE: 0H7D.L - news) has posted an unexpected net profit of €278m (£249m) in the third quarter, and pre-tax profit of €619m (£553m), as it benefited from a surge in bond trading that boosted earnings.

Revenues were also up slightly to €7.5bn for the quarter, ahead of analysts' expectations.

"We continued to make good progress on restructuring the bank," said chief executive John Cryan.

"However, in the past several weeks these positive development were overshadowed by the attention around our negotiations concerning the residential mortgage backed securities matter in the United States," he added.

The troubled German lender is facing ongoing pressure form US authorities to pay a $14bn (£10.5bn) fine to settle an investigation into the sale of mortgage-backed securities during the financial crisis.

Over the summer, the bank increased the amount of money it has set aside to cover the legal costs from €5.5bn to €5.9bn to pay for its missteps in the past.

Earlier this month, the bank announced plans to cut a further 1,000 jobs after announcing 3,000 posts were being axed in June.