Swiss bank Q4 profit off analyst estimates
By Frank Jordans |
February 12, 2010, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CREDIT Suisse Group posted a fourth-quarter net profit of 793 million Swiss francs (US$746 million) yesterday, blaming writedowns and a hefty United States legal settlement for failing to meet expectations.
Still, the results were a significant improvement from the same period the previous year, when the Swiss bank reported a net loss of 6 billion francs.
Analysts had expected a quarterly net profit of 1.16 billion francs.
Credit Suisse said net profit would have been 1.4 billion francs but for a 300 million francs impairment due to tightening credit spreads and a 500 million francs pretax charge to settle a United States investigation into allegations it helped clients make transactions involving countries under US sanctions between 2002 and 2007.
Credit Suisse didn't specify which countries were involved. The bank's chief financial officer, Renato Fassbind, said in a conference call that the case related to "the sanctions countries in general."
Countries subject to US sanctions include Iran, North Korea, Syria, Zimbabwe, Myanmar and Cuba.
Fassbind said Credit Suisse believes "we have the issue behind us."
Asked about reports in Germany that the government there has a disk containing details of German customers alleged to have cheated on their taxes, Fassbind said the bank had no indication its clients were involved.
"We don't know if there is a CD, we don't know what is on there, we don't know if it concerns our institution," he said.
A Liechtenstein court last week ordered a former subsidiary of the principality's biggest bank, LGT, to pay millions of euros damage to a client for failing to inform him his details had been stolen and handed to Germany.
Still, the results were a significant improvement from the same period the previous year, when the Swiss bank reported a net loss of 6 billion francs.
Analysts had expected a quarterly net profit of 1.16 billion francs.
Credit Suisse said net profit would have been 1.4 billion francs but for a 300 million francs impairment due to tightening credit spreads and a 500 million francs pretax charge to settle a United States investigation into allegations it helped clients make transactions involving countries under US sanctions between 2002 and 2007.
Credit Suisse didn't specify which countries were involved. The bank's chief financial officer, Renato Fassbind, said in a conference call that the case related to "the sanctions countries in general."
Countries subject to US sanctions include Iran, North Korea, Syria, Zimbabwe, Myanmar and Cuba.
Fassbind said Credit Suisse believes "we have the issue behind us."
Asked about reports in Germany that the government there has a disk containing details of German customers alleged to have cheated on their taxes, Fassbind said the bank had no indication its clients were involved.
"We don't know if there is a CD, we don't know what is on there, we don't know if it concerns our institution," he said.
A Liechtenstein court last week ordered a former subsidiary of the principality's biggest bank, LGT, to pay millions of euros damage to a client for failing to inform him his details had been stolen and handed to Germany.
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