After years of posting losses, Switzerland’s largest bank last year finally broke even in neighboring Germany. That’s not least due to an organizational change.
UBS Germany reached breakeven in 2017, according to a report by «NZZ» newspaper, citing sources within the company.
The main contributors to the turnaround seem to have been cost cuts, growth with rich clients and financial intermediaries as well as new customers. Assets under management increased to significantly above 40 billion euros.
UBS Europe as Success Story
UBS Europe, the European unit launched in 2016 and based in Frankfurt, is said to have been profitable from the word go. The unit includes the bookings of several European markets. UBS didn’t comment the «NZZ» report and will publish figures in early June.
Thomas Rodermann, head of Germany and man in charge of UBS Europe, had promised the breakeven for the end of 2017 and aimed to become profitable in 2018. The latter promise he has yet to keep.
UBS Germany had posted losses for a dozen years, with a pretax loss of 71 million euros in 2016 as the last of that series.
