Credit Suisse turned a profit in the third quarter – just barely. This masked revenue drops from interest income, client commissions and fees and from trading.

The Zurich-based bank's profit for the quarter shrank to 41 million Swiss francs from 779 million francs year-ago, missing analyst expectations.

Revenue from trading shriveled while the bank also took in less in interest income, and commissions and fees, and an additional provision of 357 million francs to deal with future lawsuits also ate into the result. Meanwhile, spending rose on the year, fueled by a 7 percent climb in pay and benefits for bankers.

The result illustrates the bank's bind: restructuring and selling undesirable assets in one of the worst possible market environments for financial firms.

No Results Breakthrough

«We still have a long way to go in our journey but we are fully mobilized to deliver in challenging market conditions on our key commitments to reduce cost[s], strengthen our capital base and drive profitable business growth,» Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam said in a statement.

The bank also employed the same shrink-to-grow strategy as its biggest rival, UBS. Credit Suisse said it is on track to beat its full-year cost target. Overall, Credit Suisse’s target is slashing spending by 4.3 billion by 2018.

It may not have been the results breakthrough that Thiam was hoping for, and it doesn't entirely back up a second-quarter result which many took as the first sign of a turnaround launched one year ago.

Healthy Net New Money

The bank did show that efforts to jumpstart growth, such as in Asia, are taking hold.

Credit Suisse won 9.2 billion francs in net new money from clients in the quarter – indicating the bank is still a trusted partner for the world's wealthy.

The bank has poured millions into growth efforts, particularly in Asia, where it recently went onshore in Thailand. The bank's core wealth management franchise internationally achieved a 6 percent rate of growth in net new money, thanks to emerging markets and Europe, which puts it at the top of its peer group.

The bank's capital, its main Achilles heel, improved to 12 percent in the quarter, which pales compared to industry leader UBS' 14 percent.