Credit Suisse sees recovery
CREDIT Suisse added its name to the series of banks reporting improved results yesterday, as it unveiled a second-quarter profit of Sfr1.57bn (£890m) on the back of a barnstorming period for investment banking.
The Swiss bank reported a second successive profitable quarter, up 29 per cent from the same quarter in 2008, a year in which the bank suffered a 12-month loss of Sfr8.2bn.
Profit beat a consensus forecast of Sfr1.4bn, but was down 22 per cent on the first quarter, during which the bank booked earnings of Sfr2bn.
Pre-tax income in investment banking was Sfr1.7bn and would have been Sfr2.4bn were it not for improving credit spreads on the bank’s own debt and charges relating to a settlement last month with Huntsman, over claims the bank sabotaged a $6.5bn buyout of the US-based chemicals maker.
Private banking also reported a strong performance, with pre-tax income of Sfr0.9bn and net new assets of Sfr10.7bn.
Asset management returned to profitability, reporting pre-tax income of Sfr55m, while the bank’s tier one capital ratio, a key measure of financial strength, reached 15.5 per cent, up from 14.1 per cent at the end of the previous quarter.
Chief executive Brady Dougan said: “We believe that we are well positioned to benefit from our very strong capital position and our differentiated business model in the evolving industry landscape.”
He said he expected the global economic situation to remain “challenging”, but added that “if markets continue to improve we expect to see further momentum across our businesses”.