UBS Q3 Profit Surges, Proposes Dividend; Sees Q4 Credit Loss Expense Lower Than H1

(RTTNews) - Swiss banking giant UBS Group AG (UBS) Tuesday reported that its third-quarter net profit attributable to shareholders surged 99 percent to $2.09 billion from last year's $1.05 billion. Earnings per share were $0.56, up 101 percent from $0.28 last year.

Profit before tax was $2.6 billion, 92 percent higher than last year. The company said it is the best third quarter profit before tax in a decade. Adjusted profit before tax was $2.1 billion.

Operating income grew to $8.94 billion from last year's $7.09 billion.

The bank said the quarterly results mainly reflected ongoing strong client activity.

Further, UBS said its Board of Directors proposed the second tranche of 2019 dividend of $0.365 per share to be paid in November 2020.

Looking ahead, the bank said that at this stage, it is reasonable to expect credit loss expense in the fourth quarter of 2020 to remain markedly lower than in the first half of the year.

The bank said, "...recent increases in COVID-19 cases create renewed uncertainty, which could affect the path of recovery. ….Our ongoing growth initiatives and other actions to drive net interest income should offset US dollar interest rate headwinds. Going forward, the pandemic and political uncertainties may lead to periods of higher market volatility and could affect client activity positively or negatively."