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May 02, 2012 at 10:02 AM
On Wednesday, UBS (UBS) reported a steep drop in first-quarter net profits versus the year-ago period, but a sharp jump in net new money across its wealth-management operations compared with the final quarter of 2012.
Its net income was 827 million Swiss francs ($906 million) in the first quarter of 2012 compared with 1.8 billion Swiss francs ($2.0 billion) a year ago and 319 million Swiss francs ($349 million) in the fourth quarter. The first quarter included an own-credit loss on financial liabilities designated at fair value of close to 1.2 billion Swiss francs ($1.3 billion), the company said, “primarily reflecting the tightening of our credit spreads over the quarter.”
“We improved operational performance across all our businesses, strengthened our leading capital ratios further, reduced risk-weighted assets and remained vigilant on costs,” said UBS Group CEO Sergio P. Ermotti (right), in a statement. “The strong net new money inflows in our wealth-management businesses provide further clear evidence of the trust our clients place in UBS.”
Net new money in the wealth-management businesses worldwide was 10.9 billion Swiss francs ($11.9 billion). Outside the U.S., the unit’s pre-tax profit rose about 70% to 803 million Swiss francs ($880 million), and “net new money more than doubled [from the previous quarter] to 6.7 billion Swiss francs [or $7.3 billion] on strong inflows in Asia Pacific, emerging markets and Switzerland, as well as globally from ultra-high-net-worth clients,” UBS stated.
Wealth Management Americas reported a record pre-tax profit jump of 34% to $209 million vs. last year, as net new money more than doubled from the previous quarter to $4.6 billion; it was $3.9 billion a year earlier.
Net new money in the Americas unit, which is led by Bob McCann (left), including income from interest and dividends—a measure widely used by other wirehouse firms—was $9.3 billion vs. $8.6 billion in the earlier quarter and $8.5 billion a year ago.
The number of UBS advisors in the Americas rose to 7,015 as of March 31 from 6,967 on December 31 and 6,811 a year before.
