Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE:CS) reported its earnings today, posting higher-than-expected profits of 1.3 billion Swiss francs ($1.4 billion). That’s a significant improvement from the same quarter a year ago when profits were only 44 million Swiss francs after a 1.55 billion Swiss franc charge due to debt valuation swings.
It’s also above the expectations of analysts, who were looking for 1.25 billion Swiss francs in net profits. Net revenues were 7.2 billion Swiss francs, which also beat consensus. Analysts were expecting the bank to report revenue of 7 billion Swiss francs.
Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE:CS) attributed the large gains to the strategic measures it has been implementing since 2011 to increase its bottom line. Most major banks are cutting jobs in their investment banks. Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) (LON:BARC) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) are two big banks which both announced in January that they would cut investment banking jobs.
However, Credit Suisse is keeping its investment division at a full-service level. Instead of trimming the division, the bank began focusing close to 60 percent of its capital in certain areas in which it excels, like credit. The decision to focus on investments paid off for Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE:CS) during the first quarter. The banks investment divisions pre-tax profits jumped to 1.3 billion Swiss francs, a 43 percent increase over the same quarter a year ago.
Analysts at JPMorgan Cazenove released a report to investors providing an analysis of Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE:CS)’s latest earnings report. They point out the importance of the bank’s investment division because it was the main driver for the earnings report. They also said cost management of its investment bank and fixed income, currencies and commodities revenues were positives, saying that the bank is “in the sweet spot in terms of FICC business mix.”
However, they also pointed out that the bank’s strong investment division numbers were offset by lower top light margins. They said they were looking for better cost management in the banks wealth management division, although the banks capital was strong.
As of the moment of this writing, shares of Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE:CS) were up .39 percent at the New York Stock Exchange.
