UBS AG Q1 Profit Declines, Net Interest Income Rises - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Swiss financial services giant UBS AG (UBS) reported Tuesday that its first-quarter net profit attributable to shareholders declined sharply to 707 million Swiss francs or 0.18 franc per share from last year's 1.98 billion francs or 0.53 franc per share.

The company delivered an adjusted profit before tax of 1.366 billion francs, with positive contributions from all business divisions and regions.

Operating profit plunged to 978 million francs from 2.708 billion francs last year. Total operating income fell 23 percent to 6.833 billion francs from 8.84 billion francs a year ago.

Net interest income, however, grew 5 percent to 1.71 billion francs from 1.637 billion francs a year ago.

According to the firm, negative market performance, substantial volatility, as well as underlying macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty, led to more pronounced client risk aversion and abnormally low transaction volumes in the first quarter.

UBS said its combined wealth management businesses attracted strong net new money totaling 29 billion francs, the highest since 2008.

Looking ahead, the company said that the underlying macroeconomic challenges and geopolitical risks highlighted previously continue to contribute to client risk aversion and are unlikely to be resolved in the foreseeable future.