Worries mount ahead of UBS results
Shares in Switzerland's largest banking group UBS were under pressure on Wednesday, as investors grew increasingly worried about the company's fourth-quarter results due on Thursday.
Shares dropped by more than four per cent at one stage on the Swiss market as fears increased that UBS might reveal lower than expected fourth-quarter numbers.
Analysts are set to scrutinise the figures to see if restructuring and acquisitions at the world’s largest wealth manager are working.
They are concerned that new assets under management, which directly relates to the level of earnings it can make, are on the wane.
The key figure will be net new money inflow in private banking, said analyst John Leonard at Schroder Salomon Smith Barney.
Most analysts forecast 2000 group fourth quarter net profit somewhere between SFr1.3 and SFr1.4 billion ($830.4 million). That’s lower than the SFr2.075 billion reported in the third quarter, partly because of the weaker environment for investment banking.
The figure is also complicated by charges tied to UBS’s $11.8 billion PaineWebber acquisition.
UBS said it would take a $400 million charge for restructuring linked to PaineWebber. But some analysts think it won’t take the full amount in the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter will also include PaineWebber’s earnings for the first time.
swissinfo with agencies
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.