Two of the largest banks in the world have reported sharp jumps in profits for the first three months of the year, boosted by higher-than-expected revenues.

Germany's biggest lender Deutsche Bank reported on Tuesday that net profit attributable to shareholders came in at 1.8 billion euros ($2 billion) in the first quarter, up 39 percent from the same period last year.

Earnings were up across all sectors, contributing to the group's "best quarterly profit for 14 years", chief executive Christian Sewing said.

"We are very happy with first-quarter results which put us on track for delivery on all our 2025 targets," Sewing said.

Another banking giant HSBC posted the first quarter profit of $9.5 billion before tax.

At the same time, its CEO warned of uncertainty in a global economy jolted by sweeping US tariffs.

The pre-tax profit represented a $3.2 billion decrease from the same period last year, with the firm attributing the drop mainly to disposals of its business in Canada and Argentina, a statement said.

In a section characterising the current outlook, HSBC noted "protectionist trade policies, creating volatility in both economic forecasts and financial markets".

The comment was a thinly veiled reference to the onslaught of tariffs recently unleashed by US President Donald Trump on most countries around the world, including several of Washington's key trading partners.