Scotsman- UBS reported a higher-than-expected third-quarter loss after taking hefty writedowns on subprime-related investments but said it expected to turn in a group profit in the last quarter.
However, the Swiss bank, which took charges of 4.2 billion francs on subprime-related losses in its fixed-income investments in the third quarter, said on Tuesday its investment bank was unlikely to break even in the final quarter.
UBS repeated warnings of further write-downs, but CEO Marcel Rohner declined in a conference call with journalists to give any detailed forecasts. “The range of possible outcomes is widening,” he said.
UBS made a 726 million Swiss franc (302 million pounds) pretax loss in the third quarter, after posting a net profit of 2.199 billion francs a year earlier.
Banks worldwide have taken charges totalling more than $20 billion 9.7 billion pounds) on holdings in mortgage-backed securities which have been hit my a meltdown in U.S. subprime mortgages — loans extended to borrowers with patchy credit histories.
Shares in UBS were indicated 1.45 percent lower in the premarket according to data supplied by Clariden Leu .
