Deutsche Bank posts third-quarter profit, hikes legal provisions

Deutsche Bank posted an unexpected net profit of 278 million euros ($303 million) in the third quarter as it benefited from a surge in bond trading that boosted all Wall Street banks' earnings.

"We continued to make good progress on restructuring the bank. However, in the past several weeks these positive developments were overshadowed by the attention around our negotiations concerning the Residential Mortgage Backed Securities matter in the United States. This had an unsettling effect," Chief Executive John Cryan said in a statement on Thursday.

Deutsche Bank hiked the amount of money it has set aside to cover the legal bill for its numerous missteps of the past. Litigation reserves rose to 5.9 billion from 5.5 billion euros at the end of June.

"Discussions with the DOJ (Department of Justice) to resolve its investigation of Deutsche Bank���s pre-financial crisis RMBS business are ongoing," Deutsche Bank said in a presentation.

Revenues were up slightly to 7.5 billion in the quarter, ahead analysts' expectations.

(Reporting by Arno Schuetze; Editing by Maria Sheahan)