Swiss bank UBS today posted a largely expected annual profit in 2010 for the first time since the financial crisis, with full year net income of 7.2 billion Swiss francs (€5.5 billion.)
The result compared with a loss of 2.7 billion francs a year earlier as Switzerland's flagship banking group symbolically shrugged off three successive years of deep losses with at least five consecutive quarters of positive results.
'While we made substantial progress in 2010, we are fully aware that we have to continue to improve our results,' the architect of the banks' recovery, chief executive Oswald Gruebel, said. The results were largely in line with analysts' expectations.
UBS last posted an annual net profit, of 12.6 billion francs, in 2006 before it was swept into the US sub-prime crisis, prompting a state rescue plan to shore it up as it suffered a record loss in 2008 of more than 21 billion francs.
UBS also marked a recovery in customer confidence after unsettled clients deserted the bank during the crisis years, reporting 'stabilised' flows of net new money in the fourth quarter of 7.1 billion francs.
The bank reported inflows in global wealth management from 'the Asia Pacific region, in emerging markets and globally from ultra high net worth clients' and a turnaround in the Americas.
However, the banking giant cautioned that it did not expected its investment banking business to perform as well as the 'seasonally strong' end of 2010 over the coming quarter, as uncertain financial markets dampened confidence.
