© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The logo of Swiss bank UBS is seen at its headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, October 25, 2022. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann
Author: Noele Illien
ZURICH (Reuters) – Switzerland’s UBS Group AG ( SIX: ) reported a 23% rise in fourth-quarter profit on Tuesday, beating analysts’ estimates, helped by falling costs despite falling financial markets.
The world’s largest wealth manager has kicked off a reporting cycle for major European banks, many of which have been cutting jobs and cutting costs in light of weakening economic growth.
The Swiss bank reported net profit attributable to shareholders of $1.7 billion, compared with an average of $1.3 billion estimated by 21 analysts surveyed by UBS.
“We are entering 2023 from a position of strength,” CEO Ralph Hamers said in a statement.
Full-year net income came in at $7.6 billion, compared with the consensus estimate of $7.3 billion.
Crosstown rival Credit Suisse Group AG will report a quarterly pretax loss of as much as 1.5 billion francs ($1.63 billion) on Feb. 9 after large withdrawals by wealthy clients following a series of scandals and losses.
UBS chairman Colm Kelleher said his bank had not actively sought to profit from Credit Suisse’s problems.
UBS has announced plans to buy back more than $5 billion worth of shares this year after buying back $5.5 billion in 2022.
It also proposed increasing the dividend to $0.55 per share for last year from $0.51 for 2021.
UBS said it attracted $23.3 billion in net new fee-generating assets in asset management, with strong results in Switzerland.
The bank’s home turf saw net new deposits of $8 billion in the fourth quarter from corporate clients and global asset management, compared with $9 billion for the full year.
“While the macroeconomic outlook remains uncertain, our operational resilience, capital strength and capital generation place us in an excellent position to serve our customers, fund growth and deliver strong capital returns to shareholders,” Hamers said.