UBS profits soar on investment banking recovery – Expat Guide to Switzerland
Swiss banking giant UBS on Tuesday reported better-than-expected first-quarter net income, up 17 percent to $2.1 billion, on the back of a rebound in its investment banking arm.
The bank’s operating profit — the equivalent of revenue — rose eight percent from the same period last year to more than $9.3 billion, Switzerland’s largest bank said in a statement.
Both numbers exceeded expectations of analysts polled by Swiss agency AWP, who had estimated net income averaging $1.6 billion on operating income of $8.8 billion.
UBS CEO Ralph Hamers said the first three months of the year were “dominated by extraordinary geopolitical and macroeconomic events”.
But he added in the statement that the bank “remained focused on executing our strategy, providing stability to our clients and managing risk.”
In corporate banking, the Swiss lender more than doubled pre-tax profit to $929 million after suffering $774 million in losses related to the fallout from the collapse of US hedge fund Archegos last year.
In the bank’s core wealth management division, however, pre-tax profit fell 7 percent to $1.3 billion, reflecting a decline in client transactions, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.
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