Credit Suisse posts record profits

The Credit Suisse group has announced record profits for last year. Switzerland's second largest bank said net profits rose by 70 per cent to SFr5.2 billion.

The Credit Suisse group has announced record profits for last year. Switzerland’s second largest bank said net profits rose by 70 per cent to SFr5.2 billion.

Credit Suisse said that all its divisions had notched up record profits last year, and that its share dividend would be increased from five to seven francs.

Financial analysts had predicted an impressive performance for the group, and the figures slightly exceeded their expectations.

The group’s total assets under management rose by SFr242 billion to SFr1180 billion, a 26 per cent increase. Around SFr62 billion of that was new money.

The growth in profits was particularly marked because of losses incurred by the Credit Suisse First Boston unit in Russia in 1998.

The First Boston unit’s net profit for 1999 was 1.3 billion dollars (SFr2.16 billion), in contrast to a 151 million dollar (SFr250 million) loss the previous year.

The group’s insurance subsidiary, Winterthur, also posted strong results, with profits up by 22 per cent to SFr 1.089billion. The value of premiums rose by SFr328 million to SFr28.258 billion.

Credit Suisse is also employing more staff. Last year, it had nearly 64,000 employees on the payroll, a rise of 2,500 over the previous year.

The group’s impressive results come just a week after Switzerland’s largest bank, UBS, announced it had doubled profits to Sfr6 billion.

swissinfo and agencies