Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse Group AG yesterday said that litigation costs and the financial fallout from the war in Ukraine pushed it deeper into the red in the first three months of the year.
“The first quarter of 2022 has been marked by volatile market conditions and client risk aversion,” Switzerland’s second-biggest bank said in a statement.
“The economic environment and market conditions throughout the quarter placed challenges on a number of our business areas with changes in interest rate expectations, inflationary pressures, as well as geopolitical tensions impacting wider market conditions and business activity,” the statement said.
Photo: Arnd Wiegmann, Reuters
Credit Suisse, which had a week ago said that it would take a financial hit from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, calculated that the related losses amounted to 206 million Swiss francs (US$213.77 million) in the first quarter.
As a result, the bank booked a bottom-line net loss of SF273 million in the three-month period, slightly wider than the loss of SF252 million a year earlier.
Credit Suisse also said that its operating expenses were higher year-on-year, driven in particular by higher litigation expenses of SF703 million.
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