(AP) -- Swiss banking giant UBS AG on Tuesday said its first-half net profit rose by 13 percent on the same period last year, to SFr3.962 billion ($2.64 billion) from SFr3.51 ($2.34 billion).

(AP) -- Swiss banking giant UBS AG on Tuesday said its first-half net profit rose by 13 percent on the same period last year, to SFr3.962 billion ($2.64 billion) from SFr3.51 ($2.34 billion).

UBS, formed last year from the merger of Union Bank of Switzerland and Swiss Bank Corp., said in a statement the result was "well within expectations considering the background of an ambitious and challenging integration process."

That integration was completed on schedule, UBS said. "We have put ourselves in a position as quickly as possible to concentrate on further building the franchise and accelerating its growth," chief executive Marcel Ospel added.

UBS said the first-half figure was adjusted to take into account pretax gains on divestments both this year and last year.

This year, UBS booked a pretax gain of SFr1.8 billion ($1.2 billion) from the sale of its equity stake in Swiss Life, a shareholding in the Julius Baer bank and from the disposal of the international operations of its global trade finance business.

In March, UBS announced a net profit of SFr3.03 billion (then $2.2 billion) for 1998 after hedge-fund losses and an out-of-court settlement of Holocaust claims in the United States, the company said.

UBS said "is confident for 1999 as a whole."

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