UBS surpassed analysts’ forecasts by 19% growth in quarterly profits, thanks to strong performance in its sales department.
The world’s largest wealth manager announced $ 2.7 billion in net profit for the first quarter on Tuesday, which is convenient compared to analysts’ forecast of $ 2.4 billion.
Profits at the Swiss lender’s investment bank more than doubled in the first quarter of last year, when it lost $ 774 million after the collapse of the Archegos family office.
In the first quarter of 2022, the bank benefited from a 59% increase in revenues in its sales department due to the strong performance of capital derivatives, interest rates and currency.
But UBS’s wealth business was hit by a 7 percent drop in revenue from the same period last year, with the group saying transaction-based earnings fell 19 percent as customers, especially in Asia, -Few transactions.
“The first quarter was dominated by exceptional geopolitical and macro events,” said Ralph Hammers, chief executive. “Against this background, we remained focused on implementing our strategic plans, serving our customers and managing risk.”
Citigroup analysts expected UBS to be the best-performing European investment bank this reporting season, with the lender benefiting from higher returns in its stock and currency-focused global markets division.
In the days following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, UBS revealed $ 10 million in outstanding loans to customers affected by Western sanctions. He also said there was about $ 200 million in exposure to Russian assets used as collateral in Lombard lending and $ 634 million in direct risk exposure to the country.
UBS said on Tuesday that it had reduced its direct risk exposure to Russia by a third to about $ 400 million.
He added that EU and Swiss rules banning the acceptance of deposits of more than 100,000 euros by Russians who are not allowed to live in the European Economic Area affected 0.7% of assets in the wealth management department.
The lender’s share price is equal this year, after recovering from a 28% decline in the first days of the war in Ukraine.
Add Comment