UBS posts 1.2-billion-franc profit

UBS returned to profitabilty in the fourth quarter of 2009 after recording losses for the previous four quarters.

Switzerland’s largest bank on Tuesday said its net income for the three months ending December 31 rose to 1.2 billion francs, compared with a 9.5 billion-franc loss in the same period a year earlier.

The profit was more than double what some analysts had predicted.

For the full year, UBS recorded a loss of 2.7 billion francs, down considerably from the record 21.3 billion-franc loss recorded in 2008.

The bank achieved the results in part by slashing costs and reducing staff to the equivalent of 65,233 full-time employees from 77,783 a year earlier.

UBS said all its divisions posted profits before tax in the fourth quarter, although the bank's business shrunk from the previous year as the wealth management unit saw clients withdraw 33.2 billion francs and Swiss retail customers drew out 5.9 billion francs from deposits.

“We entered 2009 at the height of the crisis,” bank CEO Oswald Grübel said in a statement.

“By the end of 2009 UBS has returned to profitability, delivering on its priorities," Grübel said.

“We have taken decisive action to transform UBS, and it is now a focused, efficient and resilient firm.”