Swiss banking giant UBS Group (UBS) has reported a record profit of $29 billion U.S. following its takeover of former rival Credit Suisse.
The record profit for this year’s second quarter trounced analysts’ consensus forecast for a profit of $12.8 billion U.S., according to a poll by the Reuters News Agency.
UBS said much of its Q2 profit was due to the value of Credit Suisse’s books, which created an accounting gain of $29 billion U.S. for the Zurich-based lender.
UBS agreed to buy its troubled longtime rival Credit Suisse this spring at a price of $3.2 billion U.S. The deal, which was viewed on Wall Street as extremely cheap and completed in June, provides UBS with Credit Suisse’s large wealth management business.
UBS said in its earnings release that it anticipates costs savings of $10 billion U.S. by the end of 2026, compared with an earlier estimate of $8 billion U.S. by 2027.
Most of the cost savings will come from reducing the size of its workforce. UBS has already laid off thousands of workers as it absorbed Credit Suisse.
Prior to today, UBS’ stock had gained 33% this year and was trading at a 52-week high of $25.29 U.S. per share.
