UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) reported a 129% increase in its net profit for the fourth quarter, but lowered its mid-term profitability guidance.
UBS closed the year with a better-than-expected quarterly performance. Net profit for the period rose to $722 million from $315 million a year earlier, it said Tuesday, topping analysts’ expectations of net profit of $632 million, according to a consensus provided by the bank.
The bank missed its key targets for last year. It had targeted a return on capital of around 15% and an adjusted cost-income ratio of about 77%.
Instead, return on capital was 12.4% for 2019, while the adjusted cost-income ratio stood at 78.9%.
For the full year, UBS reported net profit of $4.30 billion, down almost 5%, on operating income of $28.89 billion.
Quarterly results were boosted by the performance of the investment bank, which swung to an adjusted pretax profit of $198 million from a loss of $5 million, while the wealth management division’s adjusted pretax profit soared to $787 million from $302 million.
The results come as the Swiss bank, one of the world’s largest wealth managers, is revamping its investment bank and wealth management arms, shedding jobs and reorganizing business.
The fourth quarter marks the first for co-CEO Iqbal Khan at UBS since his acrimonious departure from Credit Suisse in the summer, followed by a spying scandal in which he was followed through the streets of Zurich by an espionage agency hired by his former employer.
Shares docked 44 cents, or 3.3%, to $12.69
