ZURICH (Reuters) - Credit Suisse <CSGN.S> on Wednesday posted its highest quarterly earnings in four years, confirming its 2019 profitability target after second-quarter earnings jumped 45%.
Switzerland's second-biggest bank confirmed its ambitions this year to reach 10-11 percent return on tangible equity (RoTE), a metric measuring profit as a percentage of shareholders' equity after subtracting goodwill and other tangible assets. That is double the 5.5 percent it hit in 2018.
"We achieved a return on tangible equity of 10% for the first time since we launched our restructuring in the fourth quarter of 2015," Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam said in a statement. "We wanted to be a leading wealth manager with strong investment banking capabilities, and we have continued to make progress on both of these fronts."
The bank said it had experienced healthy levels of client engagement thus far in the third quarter, but added that prevailing market conditions would impact whether that engagement translated into client activity.
The 937 million Swiss franc (£778.07 million) net profit put second-quarter earnings well ahead of the bank's own consensus forecast for 788 million francs.
(Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi)
