UBS confirms sub-prime loss woes ...
US retail sales in surprise rise ...
Profits at Credit Suisse plunge ...
Sub-prime woes push UBS into red ...
News ... Swiss banking firm Credit Suisse has said its first-quarter profits will be $1bn less than forecast after it marked down the value of bond investments.
The bank said it had cut the value of the investments by $2.85bn (Ј1.5bn) after it uncovered pricing errors during an internal review.
It was assessing how the write-down would affect full-year earnings.
Last week, the bank said quarterly profits sank 72% following losses from exposure to US sub-prime mortgages.
Many analysts were stunned by the announcement after the firm trimmed losses on sub-prime investments to 2bn Swiss francs last year, less than it originally expected.
Credit Suisse was previously thought to have avoided the worst of the sub-prime crisis that has cut into profits at its Swiss rival UBS and sent Wall Street giants running to cash-rich Asian investors for a lifeline.
"This is a disaster. This could be the tip of the iceberg," said Helvea analyst Peter Thorne.
"According to the presentation they gave a week ago, their exposures to residential mortgages was 8.7bn Swiss francs and collateralised debt obligations was 2.7bn francs, and now they have just written $2.85bn down."
(BBC)
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