UBS share price jumps as wealth management focus pays off with big rise in profits
Swiss bank UBS’s strategic reshuffle to focus more on wealth management and less on investment banking is paying dividends, the group said yesterday, as third quarter profits climbed 32 per cent on the year.
The bank made SFr762m (£498m) in the three-month period, up from SFr577m a year ago.
It included a SFr1.8bn increase in legal provisions – UBS is in talks with the US authorities over alleged foreign exchange benchmark manipulation – and a SFr1.3bn boost from accounting changes.
By division, wealth management operating profits shot up 24 per cent to SFr767m, and asset management profits grew 16 per cent to SFr151m. Retail and corporate banking profit also edged up seven per cent to SFr446m.
However, investment banking swung from a SFr335m profit to a SFr1.2bn loss.
The bank’s shares jumped 5.77 per cent on the day.