Credit Suisse sees first quarter profit drop

Swiss bank Credit Suisse on Wednesday reported a 45 percent drop in first quarter net profit as it sustained 617 million Swiss francs ($700 million) in valuation losses on debt and derivative liabilities. Net profit attributable to shareholders reached 1.1 billion in the first quarter, the banking group said in a statement, largely in line with an average forecast by analysts polled by Swiss business news agency AWP. Credit Suisse experienced a decline in the growth of net new money flows, which reached 19.1 billion Swiss francs, a 26.5 percent decline over a year earlier when it was partly profiting from the weakness of Swiss rival UBS. However, overall assets under management were up 1.3 percent compared to a year ago, the bank said. First quarter net revenues grew by 13 percent year-on-year to 7.8 billion Swiss francs, while the bank said its results were weakened by the strength of the Swiss franc against the euro and the dollar. "We have continued to work with regulators to help build a more robust financial system, spearheading the creation of a market for contingent convertible capital," said chief executive Brady Dougan. "I am convinced that clients and investors will recognize that, by being an early adopter of new regulatory requirements, Credit Suisse is extremely well positioned and will be better placed to create significant value for them." Contingent convertible capital is a new form of bond accounting that the financial community believes will reinforce banks during crises. Credit Suisse said it had brought its Tier One capital ratio, a measure of its capital foundations, to 18.2 percent, by the end of the first quarter.