Credit Suisse posts surprise Q2 profit of 170m Swiss franc

[ZURICH] Swiss bank Credit Suisse on Thursday posted a 170 million Swiss franc (S$233 million) net profit for the three months to the end of June, confounding analysts' expectations for a third consecutive quarter in the red.

The result was above even the most optimistic forecast in a Reuters poll of six analysts, with the average estimate for a 192 million franc loss.

"We remain cautious in our outlook for the second half of 2016 in view of the uncertainty created by significant geopolitical and macro-economic concerns, reinforced a few weeks ago by the outcome of the UK referendum," Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam, who is restructuring Switzerland's second-biggest bank to focus the business towards wealth management and away from investment banking, said in a statement.

REUTERS