The root of Credit Suisse’s latest profits
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Bill Radke: Shares of the Swiss bank Credit Suisse rose after the bank said quarterly profits were double what analysts were expecting. Christopher Werth has that.
Christopher Werth: Credit Suisse CEO Brady Dougan said the bank is in a position to “weather the storms.” Switzerland’s second-largest bank posted earnings of $1.7 billion, beating all expectations. Much of that is thanks to its investment banking and wealth management units, which have outperformed other divisions.
But David Page of Investec says there are other reasons the bank has done so well:
David Page: Basically it’s that they’re not writing down assets any more. Now the question is whether or not that means that asset write-downs have bottomed.
The bank had nearly $2 billion in write-downs last year. The results from Credit Suisse today contrast with a forecast for a big loss for its Swiss rival, UBS.
Underscoring continuing challenges ahead, yesterday the International Monetary Fund said the world economy would fall by one-and-a-third percent this year.
In London, I’m Christopher Werth for Marketplace.
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