UBS posted the biggest-ever quarterly profit for a bank following its acquisition of Credit Suisse, in its first results following the deal.
Reporting a profit before tax of $29.2bn in its results today (31 August), the bank detailed its plans to fully integrate Credit Suisse into UBS.
The now $5trn bank successfully closed the acquisition on 12 June and reported that underlying profits before tax for the quarter (which excludes $29bn in negative goodwill) sat at $1.1bn.
Since the acquisition, it reported it had reduced Credit Suisse's risk-weighted assets by $8bn, with about $55bn of risk-weighted assets still to be disposed of.
"Our analysis clearly shows that full integration is the best outcome for UBS, our stakeholders and the Swiss economy," said UBS group CEO Sergio Ermotti.
"The two Swiss entities will operate separately until their planned legal integration for 2024 with the gradual migration of clients onto UBS systems expected to be completed in 2025."
Throughout this, the bank plans to target cost savings of over $10bn by the end of 2026, aiming for a cost-to-income ratio of less than 70%.
Since the deal closed in June, UBS reported that sentiment had warmed for Credit Suisse, with $18bn of the $23bn total inflows throughout the second quarter received by Credit Suisse's wealth management and Swiss Bank divisions.
"While asset outflows from Credit Suisse's wealth management division continued in the second quarter, they did so at a slower pace compared to previous quarters and turned positive in June," UBS said.
Deutsche Bank analysts Benjamin Goy and Sharath Kumar described the results as "overall positive", noting the turn to net inflows, and stated the underlying UBS business seemed not to have been impacted by the deal.
"Clearly the group remains a construction site in the near term, however we believe this set of results and announcements should give confidence in the mid-term bull case," they added, recommending a ‘Buy'.
