Credit Suisse posts first loss since 2008, sees tough markets

Credit Suisse posted its first full-year loss since 2008 as it booked a big impairment charge for its investment banking business under new chief executive Tidjane Thiam.

“Market conditions in January 2016 have remained challenging and we expect markets to remain volatile throughout the remainder of the first quarter of 2016 as macroeconomic issues persist,” Mr Thiam, chief executive since July, said on Thursday.

Switzerland’s second-biggest bank posted a 2015 net loss of 2.94 billion Swiss francs ($2.92 billion), worse than the median estimate of a 2.12 billion loss in a Reuters poll.

As well flagged, it booked a goodwill impairment charge of 3.8 billion francs in the fourth quarter as a result of the new strategic direction Thiam is implementing to focus more on wealth management and less on investment banking.

The impairment was mostly related to the acquisition of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette in 2000, it said.

It said it had accelerated its cost savings programme so that it had taken action on 34 per cent of the measures planned by 2018, or 1.2 billion of the targeted 3.5 billion francs.

In October, Thiam embarked on the biggest overhaul of Credit Suisse in almost a decade. He has raised 6 billion francs from investors, doubled down on wealth management, slimmed down its investment bank and cut jobs.

Just over four months on from the strategy announcement, many are still unsure how Credit Suisse will hit growth targets, which include more than doubling Asia Pacific pre-tax income by 2018.

Reuters