Credit Suisse posts worse than expected losses with thousands more jobs to go in 2017
Credit Suisse's share price jumped over three per cent this morning despite posting greater than expected fourth quarter losses following its settlement with US authorities.
The lender also revealed it plans to further reduce headcount in 2017, with 5,500 jobs set to go. Shares in the firm were trading at SFr15.20 at 8.30am this morning.
The figures
Fourth quarter losses attributable to shareholders were SFr2.35bn (£1.9bn), with the full-year loss totalling SFr2.4bn.
Assets under management grew by eight per cent to SFr734bn.
Read more: Now it's Credit Suisse's turn to sign off on its DoJ fine for $5.3bn
Net cost savings totalled SFr1.9bn with adjusted total expenses of SFr19.4bn – less than the target of SFr19.8bn.
Dividend per share are SFr0.70 – in line with market expectations.
Why its interesting
The loss for the quarter, which also means the Swiss lender will post its second successive annual loss – it reported a SFr2.94bn loss in 2015 – was greater than expected by analysts.
The average expectation by analysts was a loss of SFr2.0bn according to Reuters and SFr2.1bn in a separate poll by Bloomberg.
Read more: Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse shares surge after settlements with US
The settlement with US Department of Justice – which totalled $5.3bn (£4.3bn) for mis-selling mortgage-backed securities in the lead-up to the financial crisis – removes a considerable amount of uncertainty for Switzerland's second largest lender.
It enables chief executive Tidjane Thiam to redouble efforts to cut cost out the business.
The job cuts in 2017 come hot on the heels of a reduction of 7,250 roles in 2016 – mainly in the lender's investment division in London and New York.
Credit Suisse gave no further information as to which divisions would bear the brunt of the cuts in the year to come.
Read more: Credit Suisse eyes possible IPO for new bank
What the company said
Chief executive Tidjane Thiam said:
2016 was the first full year of implementing our new strategy and it was a challenging and busy 12 months… we have made good progress on our key objectives.
We have significantly reduced our fixed operating cost base and increased our operating leverage.
Our teams have worked hard and made good progress during a challenging year: they achieved a positive finish to the year.
We believe we are well positioned to continue to make progress with our restructuring program in 2017 and 2018, and to capture profitable growth opportunities across our franchises and geographies.
With global geopolitical uncertainty increasing, we believe that our Swiss heritage and identity will be an asset as we work hard to provide performance, stability and safety for our clients around the world.