UBS met market expectations with a more than 6 billion Swiss franc net profit last year, and pledged to pay shareholders a special dividend on top of an ordinary payout.
The Swiss bank’s net profit for the year rose 79 percent to 6.2 billion francs from 3.4 billion francs year, UBS said on Tuesday. The bank delivered strong results in all main business divisions despite the «very challenging market conditions».
«We had an excellent year, both in terms of shareholder returns and strengthened client relationships,»UBS Chief Executive Sergio Ermotti said in a statement.
Special Payout Planned
The bank plans to pay shareholders a special dividend for 2015 of 0.25 francs per share, unchanged from last year, on top of an ordinary payout of 0.60 francs per share. One year ago, it paid out 0.50 francs per share in ordinary dividend.
Strong U.S.
Pretax profit at UBS’ North American wealth management business reached $874 million on an adjusted basis on a record revenue and a solid showing in net new money of $21.4 billion.
In Personal and Corporate banking, UBS recorded its strongest result in six years with 1.7 billion francs in adjusted pretax profit. The unit won a record number of new clients, UBS said.
Asset Management Nears Target
UBS’ smallest division, asset management, posted an adjusted pretax profit of 610 million francs, a 20 percent rise on the year, showing the unit is making progress towards its mid-term targets. UBS’ investment bank recorded an adjusted pretax profit of 2.3 billion francs and an adjusted return on attributed equity of 31 percent.
