UBS on Wednesday reported a $1.1bn net profit for the three months to the end of June, beating analyst forecasts as it steps up its integration of former rival Credit Suisse.
“We are well positioned to meet our financial targets and return to the levels of profitability we delivered before being asked to step in and stabilise Credit Suisse,” said chief executive Sergio Ermotti. “We are now entering the next phase of our integration.”
Analysts in a Bloomberg poll had forecast the Swiss lender to report $520.8mn in net profit for the second quarter.
Almost 18 months after its rescue of Credit Suisse, UBS is locked in a public spat with Swiss authorities over increased capital requirements the government has proposed for the enlarged bank.
Analysts have forecast that the rule change could lead to between $15bn and $25bn of additional capital for UBS.
The proposal, one of several made by Swiss finance minister Karin Keller-Sutter in April and designed to strengthen the country’s too-big-to-fail regulations, tempered a rally in UBS shares.
Nevertheless, the stock remains up almost 50 per cent since UBS agreed to buy its rival in March 2023.
The quarterly results come just months after UBS split the leadership of its wealth management business, a key profit engine, between Iqbal Khan and Rob Karofsky. The pair are seen as potential successors to Ermotti.
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