Credit Suisse Group said it was upbeat about its prospects after exceeding third-quarter net profit forecasts by a wide margin thanks to a solid investment banking performance and good client inflows.
Buoyant financial markets in the quarter and improved market share in some investment banking segments helped boost the bank's results. It is also emerging stronger than many of its peers from the crisis after it managed to avoid the need for state aid.
But shares fell at the start of trading, broadly in line with a weak European banking sector, as analysts' views were mixed on the bank's ability to keep up its strong pace.
Credit Suisse, now worth more on the market than domestic rival UBS, said todayit made a net profit of 2.4 billion Swiss francs ($2.4 billion) in the three months to the end of September, its best quarter this year.
Shares at Credit Suisse were down 2.5 per cent at 58.54 francs in early morning trading, while the DJS index of European banks was 1.8 per cent lower. The shares have outperformed rivals UBS and Deutsche Bank in the year to date.
Credit Suisse, which posted results two days after unveiling a new pay structure, continued to strengthen its capital base by shrinking its balance sheet. Its Tier 1 ratio, a closely-watched measure of capital strength, rose to 16.4 per cent, confirming it as one of the best-capitalised banks in the world.
Chief financial officer Renato Fassbind said the strong capital base would give the bank room for small or medium-sized acquisitions and was also enabling it to accrue a "more normalised" dividend after a big annual loss in 2008 forced it to pay next to nothing to shareholders this year.
In private banking, which also includes some corporate and institutional clients, Credit Suisse was able to attract 13.1 billion francs of net new money. Of these, more than 11 billion came from private clients alone, higher than expected and more than in previous quarters as the bank continued to win market share.
In asset management, which suffered outflows in the previous quarter, the bank was able to attract 3.9 billion francs of new assets, well above analysts' forecasts.
Reuters