Credit Suisse delivers earnings beat after boost from wealth management unit

FABRICE COFFRINI | AFP | Getty Images

A Swiss flag flies over a sign of Swiss bank Credit Suisse on May 8, 2014 in Bern.

Swiss bank Credit Suisse posted a 57 percent rise in first-quarter pre-tax income Wednesday, beating analyst expectations amid an ongoing restructuring plan.

Here are the key first-quarter metrics:

• Net income: 694 million Swiss francs ($707 million), vs. 654 million Swiss francs expected by a Thomson Reuters poll.
• Pre-tax income: 1.1 billion Swiss francs, vs. expected 1 billion Swiss Francs, according to Thomson Reuters.

Switzerland’s second-largest bank reported Wednesday 1.1 billion Swiss francs ($1.1 billion) in first-quarter pre-tax income, underpinned by strong growth in its wealth management-related businesses.

Meanwhile, the bank’s net profit attributable to shareholders came in at 694 million Swiss francs during the first three months of the year. That was a 16 percent rise when compared to the same period last year.

Credit Suisse’s results marked the sixth consecutive quarter of year-on-year profit growth under the guidance of CEO Tidjane Thiam. It was also the highest quarterly adjusted pre-tax income for the last 11 quarters, the bank said.

“With these first-quarter results, we got off to a good start in our third and final year of restructuring, and we are looking ahead to the future with confidence in our new business model and in our execution capabilities,” Tidjane Thiam, chief executive of Credit Suisse, said in a statement.

The bank is currently nearing the end of its three-year restructuring program. Thiam has led an ongoing effort to try to settle any outstanding legal cases and prioritize the lender’s wealth management business over investment banking.

Although Credit Suisse’s earnings picked up significantly over the first three months of the year, the lender still lagged behind its main domestic rival. UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank, posted quarterly net profit of 1.5 billion Swiss francs on Monday.

Credit Suisse’s common equity tier 1 capital ratio — a key measure of balance sheet strength — edged up to 12.9 percent from 12.8 percent when compared to the previous quarter.