That represented a plunge of 54 percent from the bank's 2009 net profit of five billion euros.

The fourth-quarter figure represented a fall of more than 53 percent from the same period a year earlier, and was the result of recent acquisitions and restructuring costs.

Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast a fourth-quarter net profit of about 800 million euros for this year.

Deutsche Bank said it would nonetheless propose an unchanged dividend of 75 euro cents per share.

"2010 has been a year of investment and change for Deutsche Bank," chairman Josef Ackermann acknowledged in a statement.

"In the process, while again demonstrating the earnings strength of our core businesses, we greatly improved our global market position and are eminently well placed for further growth," he added.