- Credit Suisse posted a narrower-than-expected Q1 net loss of $275 million.
- The Swiss lender said it has exited 97% of its trading positions linked to failed hedge fund Archegos.
- It expects to take a further related-hit of $654 million in the second-quarter this year.
- Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell.
Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second-biggest bank after UBS, reported first-quarter earnings on Thursday that showed the bank witnessed a slightly narrower net loss than analysts had expected.
A net loss of 252 million francs ($275 million) beat the 815 million francs ($890 million) mean estimate conducted by the bank’s own poll of analysts.
The bank said it had exited 97% of its trading positions related to a US-hedge fund. Credit Suisse has consistently been reluctant to name the fund, but the bank has cushioned the blow from its remaining exposure to Archegos Capital.
It expects to incur related losses of another 600 million francs ($654 million) in the second-quarter this year and said it would raise $2 billion to shore up its capital, in the aftermath of the hedge fund’s collapse.
Here are the key numbers:
- Net Revenue: CHF 7.6 billion ($8.3 billion) versus CHF 5.2 billion ($5.6 billion) in Q4
- International wealth management pre-tax profit: CHF 523 million ($571.3 million) versus CHF 442 million ($482 million) estimated
- Revenue from investment-banking division: CHF 3.9 billion ($5.4 billion) versus CHF 2.2 billion ($3 billion) a year ago
- Net loss: CHF 252 million ($275 million) versus CHF 353 million ($385 million) in Q4
“Our results for the first quarter of 2021 have been significantly impacted by a CHF 4.4 billion charge related to a US-based hedge fund,” CEO Thomas Gottstein said in a statement. “The loss we report this quarter, because of this matter, is unacceptable.”
“Among other decisive actions, we have made changes in our senior business and control functions; we have enhanced our risk review across the bank; we have launched independent investigations into these matters by external advisors, supervised by a special committee of the Board; and we have taken several capital-related actions,” he added.
Swiss regulator FINMA announced the same day that it has opened enforcement proceedings against the bank after it suffered losses in connection with Archegos.
Credit Suisse has emerged as the hardest-hit among the banks affected by the Archegos collapse. Other banks were quicker to wind down their related positions, leaving them relatively unscathed. The Swiss lender was already battling with a controversy linked to supply-chain finance as it had $10 billion worth of funds tied to Greensill Capital.
The impact on Credit Suisse from both the Archegos and Greensill saga could add up to $8.7 billion, Bloomberg reported, citing JPMorgan analysts.
Shares in Credit Suisse fell 5% in early European trading.
Leave a Reply
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
