Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE:CS) is trading down on Thursday after reporting another quarterly loss as net asset outflows climbed sharply to CHF 110.5 billion ($120.3 billion).
Credit Suisse needs to ‘strengthen its reputation’
Recently, though, CEO Ulrich Koerner said the outflows picture has since improved (read more). A net loss of CHF 1.39 billion this quarter was also well below last year’s CHF 2.09 billion. Still, Morningstar’s Johann Scholtz said this morning on CNBC’s “Capital Connection”:
I think key will be staff retention and strategies to retain talent. Credit Suisse has been losing its status as an attractive platform for talented wealth managers to reach clients. It needs to strengthen its reputation again.
The financial stock is now down about 5.0% for the year.
Chief Executive Koerner’s remarks on CNBC
Nonetheless, the Swiss bank noted a 33% year-on-year decline in revenue to CHF 3.06 billion. Both the net income and revenue figures came in shy of the company-compiled consensus. Discussing the results on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe”, CEO Koerner said:
These numbers are completely unacceptable. They tell you how necessary the transformation program into more stable, more focused, in the midterm very profitable, built around our strengths, a new Credit Suisse is.
Credit Suisse is currently in the process of a grand overhaul. It’s aiming at lowering costs by 15% over three years. To that end, the bank recently said it will cut 9,000 jobs worldwide.
The global investment bank expects CHF 1.6 billion worth of expense related to the restructuring this year and another CHF 1.0 billion in 2024, as per the press release. That’s to say it’s calling for a significant pre-tax loss in 2023. Still, the chief executive noted:
We’ve spoken individually with more than 10,000 wealth management clients globally, with more than 50,000 clients in Switzerland. That’s created tremendous momentum and that momentum is travelling with us through 2023.
What else has been happening at Credit Suisse
Credit Suisse spent $175 million to acquire Klein & Co. That operation will be fully integrated into CS First Boston – its new investment-banking division.
The financial services behemoth has a pending transaction with Apollo Global Management to divest its securitized-products business that it said is slated to complete before the back half of 2023. The said deal will result in about an $800 million gain (pre-tax).
Other notable figures in the earnings print
Assets under management were down 8.0%
Investment bank revenue crashed a whopping 74%
Wealth management revenue also slipped 17%
Announced CHF 0.05 per share of dividend
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