BERN: UBS said on Friday net profit rose 79 percent in the first-quarter of this year boosted by its investment bank business and cost-reduction program.
Net Profit 1.3 billion Swiss francs ($1.3 billion) versus a 919 million average in a poll.
The largest bank in Switzerland beat analysts’ expectations reporting a net profit of 1.3 billion Swiss francs ($1.3 billion), up from 707 million francs a year earlier. However, the bank cautioned geopolitical and macroeconomic concerns are affecting global markets.
“The geopolitical and macroeconomic issues that we’ve been facing in the last 3, 4 years are still there and are still posing a lot of risks to client activity and client sentiment,” Sergio Ermotti, chief executive officer of UBS, told CNBC.
He added that first-quarter results showed that “all business divisions, all geographies have been contributing to this positive developments on a year-on-year basis.”
