UBS beat analysts forecasts yesterday when they reported a higher than expected surge in profit.
Wealth Management delivered an adjusted profit before tax of CHF 856 million, its best quarterly result since 2008. This included an increase in operating income, largely as a result of higher transaction-based income.
Net new money in wealth management was CHF 14.4 billion, driven by inflows from all regions, with Asia Pacific as the largest contributor with, according to the report, some CHF billion 8.2 coming from Asia. The bank said that it expected its wealth management businesses to continue to attract new deposits into the second quarter.
CEO Sergio Ermotti commented, “I'm pleased with the strong quarter. We stayed close to our clients, we stayed disciplined on risk and we delivered across all businesses and regions. The results again demonstrate the benefits of a strategy defined early and executed with a focus on long-term value creation.”
However the bank struck a note of caution warning that many of the underlying macroeconomic challenges seen in the first quarter of 2015 were still present and were unlikely to be resolved in the foreseeable future.
