The Swiss bank reported financial results a year after the momentous acquisition of Credit Suisse – brokered by the federal government – leaving the Alpine state with one universal bank. 

The global wealth management division of UBS today reported an underlying pre-tax profit for the first quarter of $1.272 billion, surging from $624 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. Shares in the lender rose strongly, up 9.7 per cent around 12:45 UK time, at SFr27.32 ($30.11) per share

The result, announced a year after UBS bought Credit Suisse at the urging of the Swiss federal government, was on the back of a rise in total underlying revenue reaching $5.9 billion from $5.4 billion in the previous quarter.

On a reported basis, pre-tax profit – including the impact of the Credit Suisse acquisition – was $1.102 billion, and total revenues were $6.143 billion in Q1. 

The Zurich-listed group said operating expenses fell to $5.044 billion in Q1 2024 from $5.282 billion in the previous quarter.

A year ago for the same quarter, underlying pre-tax profit in the wealth business was $1.212 billion; operating expenses were $3.561 billion, and total revenue – underlying and reported – was $4.788 billion. 

The rise in wealth revenues was largely caused by the consolidation of Credit Suisse revenues into the wider UBS group. 

The cost/income ratio was 82.1 per cent; on an underlying basis, it was 78.5 per cent.

Invested assets rose by 3 per cent to $4.023 trillion in the global wealth management side of the business. There were net new assets of $27.4 billion in the first quarter.

Sergio Ermotti, who returned to UBS a year ago to take the helm as the bank integrated Credit Suisse following the government-sponsored rescue, said: “This quarter marks the return to reported net profits and further capital accretion – a testament to the strength of our business and client franchises and our ability to deliver significant progress on our integration plans while actively optimizing our financial resources.”

Group results
Across the whole of UBS, total underlying pre-tax profit was $2.617 billion, up sharply from $1.566 billion a year earlier. On a reported basis, the profit figure was $2.376 billion in Q1 2024, up from a comparable loss of $751 million at the end of December 2023.

The group’s Common Equity Tier 1 ratio stood at 14.8 per cent; it had a liquidity coverage ratio of 220 per cent. Total invested assets, across all divisions, rose to $5.848 trillion, up from $4.814 trillion at the end of March 2023.