Credit Suisse’s quarterly net-profit more than doubled on a rise at its investment banking and capital markets arm as well as a solid Swiss result.
The Swiss bank’s net profit rose to 647 million Swiss francs ($652.5 million) in the second-quarter, from 303 million francs year-ago, when Credit Suisse also tapped shareholders for more cash.
This beats analyst views, which averaged 612 million francs for the quarter. The Zurich-based firm, nearing the end of a three-year restructuring drive under CEO Tidjane Thiam during which he has yet to eke out an annual net profit, managed to hike revenue while lowering expenses on the year.
Credit Suisse’s private bank won 23.5 billion francs in new money off clients, the bank said mainly from the ultra-rich. This translates into a healthy 6 percent growth against what the bank already manages.
Capital Edges Lower
The bank was cautious for the rest of the year: like rival UBS last week, Credit Suisse said geopolitical tension, trade tensions and interest rate hikes could hit client confidence and in turn the parts of its business which are reliant on financial markets (which is virtually all of them).
Credit Suisse said its wealth management arm should keep expanding in the second half of the year, and that it is on track to meet its target of return on tangible equity of at least 10 percent next year. The metric stood at 6.9 percent during the second quarter.
Its capital – the reason Thiam turned to shareholders for cash for the second time during his three-year tenture – actually edged lower to 12.8 percent in the second quarter.
More to follow
