UBS posts surprise Q2 profit boost

UBS on Tuesday beat forecasts with a $1.4 billion net profit for its second quarter of 2019.

ZURICH: UBS on Tuesday beat forecasts with a $1.4 billion net profit for its second quarter of 2019, as gains in its advisory business softened an investment banking fall and boosted its Swiss retail and corporate banking business.

The 1% rise meant Switzerland's biggest bank's earnings exceeded the median net profit estimate in the bank's own consensus poll for a 24.9% slide to $1.038 billion.

"In the second quarter we achieved the highest second-quarter net profit since 2010 and an improvement on an already strong second-quarter 2018," Chief Executive Sergio Ermotti said in a statement.

Profits in both its flagship wealth management business its and investment bank fell, as lenders faced increasing headwinds from falling U.S. interest rates, which hurt net interest income and heightened lending competition, pushing margins down.

Major US lenders recently reported falls in both profits and revenues from lower investment banking and trading fees, with consumer banking holding up big Wall Street banks and cushioning a blow from weakness in trading and advisory businesses.

But UBS' advisory business grew strongly as it profited from new hires in Asia and the United States, as well as a strong deals pipeline, helping its corporate client solutions business regain lost market share.

In wealth management, UBS saw net new money outflows of $2 billion as customers withdrew more than $5 billion to pay taxes. - Reuters