Credit Suisse beats expectations with big win

Solid investment banking performance boosted Credit Suisse third-quarter profits well above analysts' expectations to SFr2.4 billion ($2.37 billion).

The net profit during the three months amounts to a 50 per cent increase over second-quarter results and is the best return this year for what is now Switzerland’s biggest bank. Credit Suisse had posted a SFr1.26 billion loss for the same quarter last year.

A Reuters poll of analysts had expected Credit Suisse to post a profit of SFr 1.7 billion.

The bank’s investment banking division fuelled much of the growth with a pre-tax profit of SFr1.75 billion in the months from July to September. Private banking earned Credit Suisse a pre-tax profit of SFr867 million.

Net income for the quarter soared to SFr5.9 billion.

“Credit Suisse has responded to the changes in the industry over the past two years with the accelerated implementation of our client-focused, capital-efficient strategy and reduced-risk business model,” bank CEO Brady Dougan said in a statement.

While UBS had to resort to state aid in the subprime crisis, Credit Suisse was able to raise capital from investors and has so far emerged as one of the winners. The bank is now worth more on the market than UBS, its direct competitor.

Investors questioned the sustainability of the gains made in investment banking and pointed to other special factors that contributed to the positive returns. Credit Suisse stocks opened at SFr58.30 on the Swiss exchange, down 2.9 per cent on Wednesday’s close.

swissinfo.ch and agencies