ZURICH – Swiss banking giant UBS today said it nearly doubled its net profit in its best third quarter in a decade, the latest in a string of global lenders to report better-than-expected results despite the coronavirus pandemic.
The world’s largest wealth manager saw net profit jump 99% year-on-year to US$2.5 billion (RM10.37 billion), it said in a statement, handily beating analyst expectations of US$1.5 billion.
The rise comes after net profit dropped by 11% in the second quarter to June as the firm stepped up provisions for bad loans with the global economy in a tailspin due to the Covid-19 crisis.
UBS’ profits received a one-off, third-quarter boost from the US$631 million sale of a majority stake in its fund platform Fondcenter AG to Clearstream, a subsidiary of the Deutsche Borse group.
Its operating profit increased 26% to US$8.9 billion, also surpassing analyst expectations.
CEO Sergio Ermotti said he is proud of the third-quarter results, his last at the helm, with former ING group chief Ralph Hamers taking over as chief executive on November 1.
“UBS has all the options open to write another successful chapter of its history under Ralph’s leadership,” said Ermotti in the statement.
But, UBS did not give any estimate of its outlook, due to a “high level of uncertainty”.
“Going forward, the pandemic and political uncertainties may lead to periods of higher market volatility and could affect client activity positively or negatively,” it said in the statement.
Other global banking giants to report surging profits this earnings season include Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup. – AFP, October 20, 2020
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