The Swiss bank swung to a fourth-quarter loss after a hefty financial crisis-era penalty in the U.S. as well as kissing off a U.S. hedge fund and restructuring. It plans to slightly lifts its year-end payout to investors.
The Zurich-based bank careened to a 353 million Swiss francs ($394 million) net loss for the last three months of 2020, from a net profit of 852 million francs year-ago, it said in a statement on Thursday. Credit Suisse had flagged the loss, which represent kitchen-sinking as well as burying a scandal that dates back before the financial crisis.
Its recent settlement in a U.S. battle over mortgage securities was by far the largest factor, and made for the bulk of 988 million francs in higher legal reserves. It also wrote off 414 million francs over York, an U.S. hedge fund it took a stake in 11 years ago that is shuttering most of its business. General restructuring and real estate sale spending added another 208 million francs.
The bank, which turned a profit of 2.7 billion francs for the year, down from 3.42 billion last year, said it plans to pay 0.2926 franc per share dividend for this year, which is nearly six percent higher than in 2019. The Swiss bank, led by CEO Thomas Gottstein, also said it had begun a buying back shares last month under a program to repurchase as much as 1.5 billion francs of its stock.
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