Credit Suisse more than halved its fourth-quarter loss compared with a year earlier, the bank said Tuesday, amid a "challenging" global market and continued cost cuts, after striking a multibillion-dollar settlement with U.S. regulators.
The Zurich-based bank said it had set aside about $2 billion in the quarter to help pay for what became a $5.3 billion settlement with the U.S. Justice Department, finalized last month, over claims the bank misled investors about the quality of mortgage-backed securities that it sold before the 2008 financial crisis.
CEO Tidjane Thiam said the arrangement removes "a major source of uncertainty for our future."
Credit Suisse said its net loss narrowed to 2.35 billion Swiss francs ($2.34 billion) in the fourth quarter, down from 5.83 billion francs a year earlier. For the full year, the net loss dropped to 2.44 billion, from 2.94 billion in 2015.
"2016 was the first full year of implementing our new strategy and it was a challenging and busy 12 months," Thiam said in a statement. "Thanks to our strong client franchise and the dedication of our teams, we have made good progress on our key objectives."
Revenues rose 23 per cent to 5.18 billion francs in the fourth quarter compared to a year earlier, propelled by the best fourth-quarter performance for its investment banking and capital markets segment in four years.
Thiam said the bank had improved its capital ratio and reduced costs by 1.9 billion francs during the year — above its initial target to save 1.4 billion francs.
Overall, depending on market fluctuations, he told a conference call that 2017 looks "positive." The bank announced plans to propose a dividend of 0.70 francs per share at the company's annual general meeting on April 28.
This content appears as provided to The Globe by the originating wire service. It has not been edited by Globe staff.