FRANKFURT (Reuters] -Deutsche Bank nearly tripled fourth-quarter profits, defying all predictions for a loss as revenue at the investment bank soared.

In the three months ended Dec. 31, shareholders received a net profit of 145 millions euros ($162.62million), according to Thursday’s figures. It is a better result than the analyst predictions for a loss around 130 millions euros.

This was the bank’s sixth quarter consecutively of profit. It also marked a significant milestone for Christian Sewing (CEO), who was elevated to chief executive in 2018 after several embarrassing and expensive regulatory failures including money laundering.

Deutsche reported an annual profit of 1.94 Billion Euros for the entire year. This is its second consecutive year in black and a sharp increase from the 113 M euros it posted a year earlier.

Sewing stated that “our transformation progress and financial results in 2021 are a strong point-off point for achieving our target of an 8.8% return on tangible equity in 2022”, confirming the key profit goal.

($1 = 0.8917 euros)