Credit Suisse recorded a full-year net loss last year as changes in U.S. taxes wiped out its profits. The Swiss bank flagged a sharp pickup of trading income this year, especially in Asia.
The Zurich-based bank said net loss for the year narrowed to 983 million Swiss francs, from a far larger 2.71 billion francs in 2016. Credit Suisse had flagged a 2.3 billion franc write-down for the year in December, after the U.S. rewrote tax law for corporations.
The bank said it will pay its first all-cash dividend in four years, a move it adopted last year following a pay snafu which saw Credit Suisse (CS) back down amid massive pressure from large institutional investors. The bank said it will pay shareholders 0.25 francs per share for last year despite the loss. In recent years, the bank has heavily incentivized investors to take more shares, not cash.
Trading Surge
Credit Suisse, which last week shuttered an obscure anti-volatility product after it incurred massive losses for clients, said trading had surged amid the market ructions in recent weeks.
Revenue is Asia's markets unit – trading – surged 15 percent in the first six weeks of this year, while income in its overall markets arm climbed by 10 percent, the bank said.
Credit Suisse ascribed the rise to CEO Tidjane Thiam's three-year deep restructure of the bank. «As a result of these efforts, we are in a significantly improved position to benefit when market conditions improve,» CS said. «In the first six weeks of this year, we have seen evidence that this approach is paying off.»
Stanching Outflows
The bank's private banking arm took in 37.2 billion francs in fresh money from clients – a key indicator of future revenue. In the fourth quarter, the bank took in 4 billion francs, a reversal of outflows it had suffered in the year-ago period. Overall assets under management rose 13 percent to a record high of 772 billion francs.
The bank said that veteran Richard Thornburgh, a former CSFB investment banker, would not stand for reelection to the board this spring. Instead, the bank is proposing Ana Paula Pessoa, a board member at France's Vinci Group, as well as former Salomon Brothers and Citigroup banker Michael Klein for election.
