Deutsche Bank is pulling back on costs to boost efficiency through reducing headcount, streamlining front-to-back processes and shrinking the bank’s footprint.

The Frankfurt, Germany-based bank aims to save 2.5 billion euros ($2.6 billion) annually by 2025, according to its third-quarter 2023 earnings supplement.

BIGGER PICTURE: The $578 billion Deutsche Bank’s headcount increased 6% year over year to 89,260 during Q3. However, reductions are expected, Chief Executive Christian Sewing said during the bank’s earnings call today, noting that the pull-back on workforce supports the bank’s cost-cutting strategy.

The bank has “seen the peak in our workforce and we will further reduce,” he said.

The bank is also looking to decrease spending on third-party consulting and marketing, “which will save us a meaningful number also in 2024 versus 2023,” Sewing said.

BY THE NUMBERS: Deutsche Bank reported:

• Adjusted costs, including information technology spend, increased 0.4% YoY to $5.3 billion in Q3;
• Quarterly net revenue fell 3.7% YoY to $7.5 billion; and
• Number of branches fell by 93 to 1,443 in the first nine months of 2023.

NOTEWORTHY: Deutsche Bank continued to prioritize AI adoption in the third quarter with the assistance of fintechs.

Earlier this year, the bank began using Google’s Duet AI, which uses trained foundation models to help companies navigate the Google Cloud, according to a Google release.

“With Duet AI, we are helping leading brands like PayPal and Deutsche Bank boost developer productivity,” Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said during Google’s Q3 2023 earnings call Tuesday.

FLASHBACK: In October 2022, Deutsche Bank announced that it had teamed up with IBM spinoff Kyndryl to support its cloud migration efforts.

Editor’s note: All amounts have been converted to U.S. dollars.