UBS posts $1.1 billion net profit in second quarter, beating forecast

ZURICH (Reuters) – UBS reported on Wednesday a net profit of $1.14 billion for the April-June period, the first results since the completion of the bank’s formal legal merger with its one-time rival Credit Suisse.

The net profit attributable to shareholders for Switzerland’s largest bank compared with the $528 million forecast by analysts in a company-provided poll.

The bank also reported group total revenue of $11.9 billion, which compared with the consensus figure of $11.6 billion.

“Our first-half results reflect the significant progress we have made since the closing of the acquisition as we deliver on all of our commitments to stakeholders,” UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti said in a statement.

“We are well positioned to meet our financial targets and return to the levels of profitability we delivered before being asked to step in and stabilise Credit Suisse,” he added.

UBS also said it had achieved $0.9 billion of additional gross cost savings, reaching around 45% of its cumulative annualised gross cost saving ambitions.

Swiss authorities oversaw the first merger of two global systemically important banks – as designated by the Financial Stability Board – in the first half of last year.

After that, UBS posted two consecutive quarters of losses due to the cost of absorbing its rival.

Investors warmed to the takeover, by this summer pushing up the value of UBS’s shares by more than two-thirds since it bought Credit Suisse in March 2023. However, UBS shares have since lost ground during recent turmoil in global markets.