Credit Suisse Group reported a fourth-quarter net loss yesterday of 6 billion Swiss francs (US$5.61 billion) as both asset management and investment banking posted large deficits.
Net loss per share for the quarter was SF5.34.
The results were far worse than the SF3.72 billion loss analysts had excepted.
Switzerland’s second-biggest bank said the results take its full-year net loss to SF8.2 billion for last year. A year earlier Credit Suisse had reported a net profit of SF7.8 billion.
The investment bank racked up a pretax loss of SF7.78 billion in the fourth quarter, which included writedowns of SF3.19 billion. Credit Suisse said it has reduced its exposure to risky assets by 87 percent between the end of the third quarter of 2007 and the start of this year.
Asset management saw pretax losses of SF670 million, while private banking posted a pretax profit of SF876 million.
“While our full-year results are clearly disappointing, we entered 2009 with a very strong capital position, a robust business model, a clear strategy and well-positioned businesses,” chief executive Brady Dougan said in a statement.
All divisions began the year profitably, he said.
Credit Suisse’s results came one day after rival UBS AG posted record quarterly losses of SF8.1 billion. Unlike UBS AG, however, Credit Suisse has not resorted to a bailout offer from the Swiss government.
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