Josef Ackermann, chief executive of Deutsche Bank, has sought to soothe fears over the bank’s performance by telling senior staff of a strategic overhaul aimed at recovering last year’s record profitability.

The plan was outlined in a letter to several hundred employees last week, as shares in Germany’s biggest bank hit their lowest value in more than a decade and concern over Citigroup gave rise to more fears over the health of one of the world’s biggest banks.