Credit Suisse, the second largest Swiss banking group behind UBS, is back in the black in the second quarter of this year, after the red in the first quarter. But the net profit obtained is small, the weight of the crisis affecting the American family office fund Archegos is still being felt.
The numbers
The net profit for April-June was 253 million francs (235 million euros at the current exchange rate), down by 78% compared to 1.16 billion francs in the same period of 2020. Having recorded a loss in the first quarter net profit of 252 million, Credit Suisse therefore stores a net profit of only CHF 1 million for the entire first half of 2021, compared with 2.47 billion a year earlier.
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In the second quarter of 2021, the pre-tax result contracted on an annual basis by 48%, to 813 million. The quarterly accounts were affected by another 594 million in charges linked to Archegos, in addition to the 4.4 billion that the Swiss banking group had already suffered in the first months of the year.
The fall of the US family office fund came after the difficulties that Credit Suisse had already had due to the involvement, together with other banks, in the crisis of the Anglo-Australian company Greensill.
Despite the good performance of the financial markets, the second quarter ended for Credit Suisse with income down 18% year on year to 5.1 billion francs. There was also a slight net capital outflow of CHF 4.7 billion; However, thanks to the positive trend of the markets, the assets managed by the Swiss group as a whole increased to 1,632 billion francs at the end of June, compared with 1,596 billion at the end of March.