Deutsche Bank is confident it can reach its profitability targets for 2015 despite reporting a surprise loss of almost 1.2 billion euros ($1.56 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2013, the bank's co-chief executive told CNBC.
"2015 is highly achievable as the legacy issues drain away and frankly our task of re-platforming the bank is concluded," Anshu Jain told CNBC on Wednesday.
His comments come ten days after the bank posted the surprise loss and said it expected 2014 to remain challenging due to litigation costs, restructuring and balance sheet reduction.
Despite the disappointing figures, Jain said it was important to "keep in mind we just completed our second best core operating year ever. So the problem has not been in the underlying performance of the bank."
"Unfortunately we have had to spend a great deal of money yet again in 2013, on litigation, on replatforming, and on certain accounting issues," Jain said.
(Read more: Deutsche Bank tumbles, warns of 2014 headwinds)
Despite the loss, chief financial officer Stefan Krause told reporters at the group's news conference on Wednesday that the bank was proposing a full-year dividend of 0.75 euros, in line with 2012.
Other European banks including UBS have cleaned up their balance sheets ahead of the introduction of new global banking regulations which require banks to hold a certain amount of capital in order to avert future banking crises.
The bank is also being scrutinized by banking regulators. Last week, German magazine Der Spiegel reported that Germany's banking watchdog Bafin plans to intensify its probe into possible manipulation of benchmark foreign exchange rates at the bank.
Asked about the prospect of higher litigation costs, Jain said he did not have a "crystal ball".
But a settlement with a top U.S. federal regulator over mortgage securities was one of several "very significant" challenges it had dealt with.
"We have some well-publicized ones still to come and frankly we have taken some good provisions against them."
In terms of the wider economic outlook, Jain forecast that emerging market volatility was set to continue as emerging markets and their currencies take a drubbing on the back of the U.S. Federal Reserve tapering its monetary stimulus program.
(Read more: Could South Africabe the next to hike rates?)
"Clearly they have experienced some volatility in their equities, in their foreign exchange…and yes we believe that volatility will continue. Particularly as and when U.S. growth picks up to the point where U.S. monetary policy changes, history tells us that will be a period of continued stress for emerging markets."
- By CNBC's Holly Ellyatt, follow her on Twitter @HollyEllyatt.