The leader of the Swiss banking sector has now reached 1.9 billion out of its target of 2.1 billion Swiss francs in cost savings this year/AFP
ZURICH, Switzerland, Oct 27 – UBS said Friday its net profit climbed 14 percent in the third quarter to 946 million Swiss francs (814 million euros, $946 million) and Swiss banking giant expressed confidence about improving market conditions.
That beat the 896 million Swiss francs expected on average by analysts surveyed by Swiss financial news agency AWP.
UBS’s revenues climbed 2.1 percent to 7.1 billion, costs were squeezed 3.7 percent to 5.9 billion.
The leader of the Swiss banking sector has now reached 1.9 billion out of its target of 2.1 billion Swiss francs in cost savings this year.
“We again saw good results across our business divisions with Asia Pacific as an important driver of profitable growth,” chief executive Sergio Ermotti said in a statement.
Like a number of its peers, UBS in recent years has been struggling in recent years to adjust to the ultralow interest rate environment along with lower volatility leading to a drop off in trading by clients.
It noted plenty of clouds on the horizon, such as geopolitical tensions, high asset prices, uncertainty over central bank monetary policy and changes to banking regulations, but UBS expressed confidence it “is well positioned to mitigate these challenges and benefit from further improvements in market conditions.”
The bank’s share price rose 0.7 percent in morning trading while Switzerland’s SMI index was up 0.3 percent.
