Credit Suisse beats forecasts with £1bn profit
SWISS bank Credit Suisse has reported a profit of 1.6bn Swiss francs (£1bn) for the three months to the end of June, beating expectations.
The profit was returned despite a fall in revenue from investment banking of almost a third, to 4.1bn francs.
Analysts had expected the bank to turn in net profit of 1.229bn Swiss francs.
Some had revised their expectations downwards after a sharp drop in profit at major US banks, including Goldman Sachs.
Credit Suisse also said it had booked a charge of 447m francs related to a one-off British tax on staff bonuses paid on 2009 profits.
But this was nearly offset by an accounting benefit stemming from the widening of spreads on its credit-default swaps, the bank said.
Shares in Credit Suisse have fallen by around 16 per cent this year
Chief executive Brady Dougan said: “We remain confident that our strategy is appropriate and resilient in the face of an uncertain and challenging economic and market environment.”
The bank said revenue had been hit by “volatile market conditions” and lower bond sales.
Analysts said the European debt crisis in particular had hit the bank’s earnings.
Dirk Becker at Kepler Capital Markets said: “Revenue generation has suffered from the market dislocations around the sovereign debt crisis in April and May.”