Credit Suisse's net profit rose more than 16 percent in the first quarter. More spending cuts as well as strong results from Switzerland, private banking, and Asia lent the Swiss bank a fillip.
The Zurich-based bank's first-quarter net profit rose 16 percent on the year to 694 million Swiss francs ($580.4 million), Credit Suisse said in a statement on Wednesday. Credit Suisse's result was bolstered by a 6 percent spending cut compared to last year to 4.53 billion francs.
The results vindicate CEO Tidjane Thiam's grueling three-year restructuring of Credit Suisse, which included two capital hikes as well as strategically splitting its business at home in Switzerland and in Asia.
The first quarter benefited from a private bank, led by former consultant Iqbal Khan, in rude health: pretax profit surged 66 percent on the year. The combined wealth units, including Asia and Switzerland, won 14.4 billion francs in fresh funds – which Credit Suisse says is a seven-year record.
Asia Bouyant
The bank's business at home also flourished: pretax profit from Switzerland climbed by more than a third to 563 million francs. In Asia, the region which won the most focus from Thiam in the overhaul pretax profit rose 59 percent to 234 million francs.
Credit Suisse's investment bank was the only department to notch lower profits in the first quarter, traditionally the healthiest one for investment banks as well as wealth managers. The bank's capital ratio, long a worry and the motivation behind tapping shareholders for a total of 10 billion francs, edged closer to its minimum 12.5 percent target, to 12.9 percent.
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