FRANKFURT Deutsche Bank on Wednesday said that it had hired 50 senior bankers in the origination and advisory business of its global investment bank and that a slump in activity affecting it and competitors was a thing of the past.

The 50 managing directors and directors, and an unspecified number of junior bankers, have helped push up Deutsche Bank's front-office employees to 4,377 individuals, up 4% from a year earlier.

The hiring comes amid efforts to cut costs and as Deutsche's investment bank revenue falls, and it is expected to lose its pole position as the German lender's top revenue generator to the retail division.

At Deutsche, origination and advisory fees have already picked up, growing 25% to 291 million euros in the second quarter from a year earlier, though that is a small fraction of the investment bank's 2.4 billion euros in quarterly revenue.

Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing told analysts that "the trough" in origination and advisory "has been passed".

James von Moltke, finance chief, said that the bank forecast a "significant rebound" in the business in 2024.

(Reporting by Tom Sims, Editing by Rachel More)