Zurich: Credit Suisse bounced back into profit in the second quarter, earning 170 million Swiss francs ($172m), as it reported making progress on a major restructuring programme.
Plunging client activity and difficult market conditions as well as write-offs pushed Switzerland’s second largest bank into a net loss of 302m Swiss francs in the first quarter.
However the second-quarter net profit still represented an 84 per cent drop from the same period last year as Credit Suisse shifts to focus on private banking and wealth management.
The bank pointed to progress in cutting costs, which were down 6pc from the second quarter last year, while it improved its core capital buffer to 11.8pc.
“We were able to improve our performance in the second quarter and to operate profitably in a volatile context,” said chief executive Tidjane Thiam.
He said markets were particularly challenging in June “in connection with the UK referendum on EU membership” but that their planning allowed for Credit Suisse to handle significantly increased trading volumes for its clients.
“We remain cautious in our outlook for the second half in view of the uncertainty created by significant geopolitical and macro-economic concerns.