A more than doubling of profits from its investment banking business based in Canary Wharf helped Credit Suisse increase profits by more than a third in the second quarter.
The Swiss bank, which has been cutting its balance sheet and its staff to reduce costs and bolster its regulatory capital, made a post-tax profit of Swfr1.5 billion (£1 billion) in the three months to June, a 38% improvement on a year earlier.
It also confirmed it had set aside Swfr100 million to pay to the UK tax authorities after the recent agreement with the Swiss government to claw back tax from British clients who had attempted to avoid it. Revenues at the bank’s private banking and wealth management arm, which is where it is concentrating most of its development, were static but profits dropped from Swfr977 million to Swfr917 million.
At the shrinking investment bank revenues grew by 25% to Swfr13.4 billion and profits jumped from Swfr314 million to Swfr754 million mainly on higher equity sales and trading and better corporate advice flows. Fixed income trading was down.
Brady Dougan, chief executive, said: “The transition to higher interest rates led, in the latter part of the second quarter, to increased market volatility and reduced client activity.”
