Zurich, Switzerland – UBS, the Swiss banking giant, surpassed fourth-quarter earnings expectations on Tuesday and announced its plans to resume share buybacks worth up to $1 billion in the second half of the year. The group’s net loss attributable to shareholders for the quarter was $279 million, marking its second consecutive loss due to the integration costs of fallen rival Credit Suisse. Analysts had anticipated a wider net loss of $372 million.
Along with the share buybacks, UBS intends to propose a dividend per share of $0.70, reflecting a 27% increase year-on-year. In the previous quarter, UBS had reported a larger-than-expected net loss of $785 million, taking into account $2 billion in expenses related to the integration of Credit Suisse.
Despite the losses, UBS’s strong underlying operating profit before tax in the third quarter had caught the market’s attention. The bank’s fourth-quarter operating profit before tax stood at $592 million. UBS also noted a faster-than-expected return of client inflows to Credit Suisse’s wealth management business since the completion of the takeover in June 2023.
As part of the ongoing integration of its fallen rival, UBS has embarked on a process of cutting approximately 3,000 Credit Suisse jobs. The bank announced completing the first phase of the strategic integration on Tuesday.
“Thanks to the exceptional efforts of all of our colleagues, we stabilized the franchise and have made tremendous progress in the integration,” said UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti.
Throughout the year, UBS shares have experienced a lackluster performance, falling by 1.5% since the beginning of 2024. In addition to the earnings report, UBS also shared other noteworthy highlights: total group revenues of $10.86 billion in the fourth quarter, a CET1 capital ratio of 14.5%, and net new assets of $77 billion in Global Wealth Management.
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