Credit Suisse Q4 2020 Earnings Report

Credit Suisse on Thursday reported a net loss of 353 million Swiss francs ($392.8 million) for the fourth quarter of 2020.

The bank’s fourth-quarter report was better-than-expected although it had a net loss rather than profits. According to Refinitiv estimates, the bank was expected to have a net loss of 558.5 million Swiss francs for the just-reported quarter and a net income of 2.8 billion Swiss francs for the year. Although it beat analysts’ expectations for its net loss, it fell below expectations for its net income of 2.7 billion Swiss francs.

Here’s how Credit Suisse performed in the fourth quarter:

• Net loss: 353 million Swiss francs (approximately $392.8 million)

• Net income: 2.7 billion Swiss francs

• CET 1 ratio, a measure of bank solvency: 12.9%, from 12.7% a year ago

• Revenues: 5.2 billion Swiss francs, from 6.2 billion Swiss francs a year ago

• Total operating expenses: 5.2 billion Swiss francs, compared to 4.8 billion Swiss francs a year ago.

Credit Suisse had notified the markets ahead of time that it would drop to a higher-than-expected loss in the closing quarter of 2020 after it set aside $850 million for a legal dispute in the United States. The Swiss bank later agreed to a $600 million settlement earlier this month.

In January, the Swiss bank also announced its plan to buy between 1 billion and 1.5 billion Swiss francs of its own shares, starting January 12. It has now added that it will pay a dividend of 0.2926 Swiss francs per share relating to its 2020 results.

Credit Suisse's share price is up 12% so far this year.

Chief executive officer of Credit Suisse, Thomas Gottstein in a statement said regardless of the difficult economic environment created by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, “we saw a strong underlying performance across Wealth Management and Investment Banking while addressing historic issues.”

He told CNBC that he was “very satisfied” the fourth quarter’s results and 2021 is another opportunity for growth. “We had an excellent start, all five divisions are up,” Gottstein said.

The bank has cautioned of further impact of the coronavirus pandemic if global economies start to think that the worst is over. “We would caution that the COVID-19 pandemic is not yet behind us and notwithstanding the continued fiscal and monetary stimuli, the pace of recovery remains uncertain,” the bank said in a statement.