Switzerland's Credit Suisse in the first half has achieved its biggest profit in a decade. The Swiss unit was returning stable revenues, while Asia and trading added substantially to a surge in profitability. Further cost cuts will now follow.
Credit Suisse had a profit of 2.5 billion Swiss francs ($2.73 billion) in the first half of 2020, according to a statement released on Thursday. This was 47 percent more than in the same period of 2019.
The result of the second-largest bank of Switzerland exceeded analysts' expectations by a substantial margin, helped by its business in Asia and by brisk trading activities. The latter had surged following the volatility prompted by the pandemic.
Light and Shadow
Despite the crisis, the Swiss business also had a stable development and pretax was slightly up on the first half of 2019.
International wealth management by contrast was down on the previous year, while the investment banking business suffered from the difficulties encountered on the market. The division had another loss to report.
Dividend Payment as Planned
The management of the Swiss bank is said to be very satisfied with the result of the first half and plans to pay the full 0.2776 francs per share dividend it had originally planned to pay.
Hence, the supervisory board will propose to pay shareholders the second installment of 0.1388 francs per share. Shareholders will vote on the proposal at an extraordinary meeting on November 27, 2020.
Savings Program
The board will also consider a further share buyback for 2020 after the meeting in November, the company said.
Credit Suisse on Thursday announced a new restructuring bid of the company. It hopes to achieve cost savings of about 400 million francs annually starting in 2022, money to be reinvested in growth initiatives, as the company said.
