Deutsche Bank on Tuesday said it had bounced back into profit in the first three months of the year, following many of its global investment banking rivals in taking advantage of a sharp upturn in conditions after a disastrous last quarter of 2008.

Better trading for many of Deutsche’s most important debt businesses helped it lift net income to €1.2bn ($1.5bn), which was above analysts’ expectations and compares with a net loss of €141m in the same period of 2008. In the prior quarter – when Deutsche’s trading positions went badly wrong in the wake of Lehman Brothers’ collapse – the bank lost €4.8bn.