Switzerland's biggest bank's earnings were hit by fair value charges amounting to 589 million on its long-term debt due to tightening credit spreads and cross currency swap.
It also revealed that litigation charges cost it another 73 million francs, but that it booked a positive benefit of 43 million francs over Britain's levy on bonuses.
Overall, the quarter was characterized by "challenging conditions with low market volumes and subdued client activity" but all divisions returned profits, said the bank in its earnings statement.
"Continued disciplined investments position Credit Suisse well for market recovery," it added.
The group revealed that its tier 1 ratio -- a measure of the bank's capital adequacy -- was at 16.7 per cent at the end of the third quarter.
Brady Dougan, chief executive officer of the bank, added that the bank was "well placed" to meet new banking regulations, which require banks to set aside a significantly higher proportion of capital than previously.
"We anticipated much of the regulatory change, both in terms of capital requirements and the new cross-border regime. This means that we are well placed to meet these new requirements."
The group did not issue an outlook, but chief financial officer David Mathers said that trends in October appeared to be in line with September.
"It's still early in the fourth quarter, but it is fair to say that the trends in October are very much in line with what we've seen in September," he said.
He added that July and August were "weak" but that the bank saw "some improvement" in September.
Some analysts were however, unimpressed by the results.
Bank Vontobel's Teresa Nielsen said: "Although the results include some exceptional loss items, they are in our view disappointing with weak investment banking revenues, a lower than expected wealth management gross margin and a decreasing book value."
The stock opened down 3.2 per cent at 41.95 francs, underperforming the overall Swiss Market Index, which was down 0.41 per cent.
Source (AFP)
