Credit Suisse profit drops 25 per cent
Credit Suisse Group has reported net income for 2007 of SFr8.549 billion ($7.766 billion), down from a record SFr11.327 billion in 2006.
Switzerland’s second-largest bank said on Tuesday that fourth-quarter net profit had dropped 72 per cent to SFr1.33 billion owing to writedowns for investment banking and money-market funds.
Credit Suisse said net profit in the three months ending December 31 compared with SFr4.67 billion in the same period for 2006, when earnings were bolstered by investment banking and the sale of insurer Winterthur.
Chief Executive Brady Dougan said the results were “achieved in an extremely challenging environment”.
“Our integrated business model, global reach, strong risk management capabilities and capital position proved important competitive advantages,” he added.
Credit Suisse said that private banking, which comprises the wealth management and corporate and retail banking businesses, reported record income from continuing operations before taxes of SFr5.5 billion for 2007, an increase of 19 per cent on 2006.
The earnings were largely in line with market expectations, analysts said.
Dividend proposal
The bank proposed raising its dividend to SFr2.50 a share – compared with SFr2.24 plus a par value reduction last year – and said it is already more than halfway through an SFr8 billion share buyback, which it sped up last year.
Investment banking reported income from continuing operations before taxes of SFr4.8 billion for the full year 2007, a decrease of 19 per cent compared with 2006, “reflecting the challenging operating environment in the second half of the year”, according to the bank.
At the end of January rival UBS posted a SFr4.4 billion full year loss for 2007 after announcing further significant writedowns relating
UBS has suffered the most among European banks in the current subprime crisis and is seeking a capital injection of SFr13 billion from Singapore and an unnamed Middle East investor.
swissinfo with agencies
The Credit Suisse Group is the second-largest bank in Switzerland after UBS.
The two banks control about half of the entire banking activity in Switzerland, representing some 10 per cent of GDP.
Credit Suisse is active in 50 countries and employs 47,000 people.
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.