Switzerland's UBS recorded third quarter losses of 830 million Swiss francs (US$713 million) yesterday, blaming a lack of liquidity following the crisis in the US home loans market.
The losses at Switzerland's largest bank compared with a net profit of SF2.20 billion during the same period last year.
The results were in line with the Swiss bank's warning on Oct. 1 that it was expecting pre-tax operating losses of as much as SF800 million.
The bank's net profit over the first nine months of this year fell 8 percent to SF8.07 billion, it said in a statement.
The Swiss banking giant said it was on course for a renewed quarterly profit in the fourth quarter.
However, it cautioned that it was "unlikely" its investment banking division would make a positive contribution to its overall results in the last three months of the year, despite a good start to the period in all businesses.
UBS said the deterioration in the US subprime mortgage market, especially in August, was "so severe and sudden that markets turned illiquid."
Trading income swung to a SF3.55 billion loss, compared to SF2.4 billion in revenues during the third quarter last year, as the bank's investment banking division was sapped by writedowns related to US mortgage trading.
The bank's fixed income and commodities trading, meanwhile, plunged to a negative outflow of SF4.2 billion.
"Our third quarter result was unquestionably disappointing," UBS chief executive Marcel Rohner said.
Rohner underlined recent management and structural changes made by the bank.
"We are also taking steps to strengthen our market risk management and control framework," he said.
UBS said it was expecting a return to profitability in the fourth quarter despite "market uncertainties."
It cautioned that fixed income trading in the US remained exposed to any further deterioration in the US housing and mortgage markets.
Ratings downgrades for mortgage-related securities could also have a negative impact, it said.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
TRUST: The KMT said it respected the US’ timing and considerations, and hoped it would continue to honor its commitments to helping Taiwan bolster its defenses and deterrence US President Donald Trump is delaying a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan to ensure his visit to Beijing is successful, a New York Times report said. The weapons sales package has stalled in the US Department of State, the report said, citing US officials it did not identify. The White House has told agencies not to push forward ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), it said. The two last month held a phone call to discuss trade and geopolitical flashpoints ahead of the summit. Xi raised the Taiwan issue and urged the US to handle arms sales to
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
RSS