After Berners

23 April 2018 By Christopher Thompson Follow @CGAThompson

The Swiss lender’s investment bank made a 24 pct first-quarter return on equity. CEO Sergio Ermotti’s long-term downplay of fixed income looks great given recent equity volatility. But the weakness of key European peers also helps UBS look good.

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UBS on April 23 announced operating income of 7.69 billion Swiss francs for the first quarter of 2018, an increase of 2 percent on the same period of the previous year. Pre-tax profit was 1.97 billion Swiss francs, up 17 percent year-on-year, in line with consensus expectations according to Eikon.

The Swiss bank said quarterly pre-tax profit at its global wealth management division grew by 20 percent year-on-year to 1.1 billion Swiss francs. The unit attracted 19 billion Swiss francs of net new money, a measure that includes incoming client funds and outflows. That compared with 20.5 billion Swiss francs of net inflows in the same period last year.

UBS earned a return on tangible equity of 13.6 percent for the quarter, against 10.9 percent in the first quarter of 2017. The lender’s common equity Tier 1 capital ratio was 13.1 percent, compared to 13.8 percent three months earlier.

UBS shares were down 4 percent to 16.5 Swiss francs at 0800 GMT on April 23.

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