Germany’s largest lender hinted that more cost-cutting may be to come if economic uncertainties persist.

Deutsche Bank's pre-tax profit plunged 67 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2016 to €408 million ($449 million), reflecting the “challenging” macro-economic environment and the lender's ongoing restructuring efforts.

As net revenues fell by a fifth year-on-year to €7.4 billion at the end of June, net income totalled €20 million, compared to €818 million in the second quarter of 2015. In wealth management, revenues declined 12 per cent to €490 million due to lower performance and transaction fees against what the bank said was a “more difficult” market backdrop, including “very low” levels of equity capital markets activity in the US.

Deutsche faced a goodwill impairment charge of €285 million, restructuring and severance charges of €207 million, and litigation charges of €120 million.

Shares in the bank have halved over the past year, with chief executive John Cryan on a restructuring drive, selling off “non-core” assets and cutting jobs to restore profitability. The bank has also seen a raft of management changes. These include Saleha Bilal's appointment as the new UK wealth management chief operating officer and the departure of asset management head Quentin Price.

“While our results show that we are undergoing a sustained restructuring, we are satisfied with the progress we are making,” said Cryan.

“We have continued to de-risk our balance sheet, to invest in our processes and to modernise our infrastructure. However, if the current weak economic environment persists, we will need to be yet more ambitious in the timing and intensity of our restructuring.”

Deutsche Bank shares dropped 2.5 per cent to €12.54 at around 9:00 in Frankfurt before recovering slightly to €12.33 at 13:30.