Deutsche Bank posted an 18 per cent rise in quarterly net profit as crisis-era investment at the investment bank and deals to expand its retail and wealth management operations helped it outperform peers.

Germany's biggest lender said first-quarter net profit rose to €2.1 billion, compared with a forecast for €1.82 billion in a poll.

The quarterly figure was second only to the €2.13 billion seen in first quarter of 2007.

Deutsche Bank said it remained confident it can deliver its 2011 target of €10 billion pretax profit.

The investment bank unit delivered the lion's share of group pretax profit in the first quarter - down 4 per cent to €2.6 billion of a total €3 billion - thanks to strong revenues from rates, money markets, foreign exchange and commodities trading.

By contrast, UBS said on Tuesday quarterly pretax profit at its investment bank fell 33 per cent. Rival Credit Suisse posted a 25 percent decline in pretax profit at its investment bank during the same period.

US peers Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley also posted sharply lower profit as investment banking revenues failed to live up to an unusually strong quarter in the year-earlier period.

Deutsche Bank's earnings reflected market share gains at the investment bank as well as increased revenues from deals struck in the aftermath of the credit crisis including the purchase of retail lender Deutsche Postbank and wealth manager Sal Oppenheim.

"We will continue to invest in our franchise and are confident that we will deliver on our ambitious target of income before income tax of €10 billion from our business divisions," chief executive Josef Ackermann said.

Reuters