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UBS 1Q beats forecasts
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May 25, 2000: 3:29 a.m. ET
Europe's No.2 bank posts 41% profit rise as capital markets boom
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Swiss-based UBS beat expectations with a 41 percent rise in first-quarter earnings Thursday, as Europe's second-largest bank benefited from lower costs and strong performances from its UBS Warburg investment bank and private-banking arms.
UBS reported a net profit of 2.2 billion Swiss francs ($1.28 billion), or 5.61 francs per diluted share, for the three months ended Mar. 31, ahead of the 1.9 billion franc consensus among analysts polled by Reuters.
The report was the first quarterly statement by UBS since it changed reporting procedures to meet U.S. requirements following its New York listing on May 16.
In what the bank said was traditionally its strongest quarter, its investment banking unit was the best performer, posting an 86 percent rise in year-on-year pretax earnings to 1.32 billion francs. It was boosted by strong share underwriting fees and high-profile merger and acquisition roles in deals such as Pacific Century CyberWorks planned takeover of Cable & Wireless HKT.
UBS Switzerland, the unit which combines consumer banking and services for wealthy clients, reported a 51 percent rise in pretax earnings for the quarter.
The bank's cost-income ratio fell to 66.5 percent from 67.4 percent a year earlier and 79.4 percent in the final quarter of 1999.
UBS shares were up 2.2 percent at 234 Swiss francs in early trade on the Swiss Stock Exchange in Zurich. 
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