Investment Bank, UBS has reported full-year financial report for the year 2018, registering a marginal increase in operating profits. Taking a look at the numbers, the Swiss banking major has reported a net operating income of $30.2 billion, which is around 2 per cent higher compared to previous year, which was at $29.6 billion.
The operating expense during the term fell on a year-on-year comparison. However, the decline was marginal. In 2018, total operating expenses came in at $24.2 billion, which is 0.2 per cent lower from $24.3 billion in 2017.
The bank’s investment banking unit was the best performing segment during the year, which drove solid performances in both the second and third quarter, beating the market expectation. The investment banking unit generated a total operating income of $8.15 billion, which is 5 per cent higher compared against 2017, which was at $7.79 billion. The segment also managed to lower its operating expenses by slight 40 basis points from $6.53 billion in 2017 to $6.5 billion in 2018.
In the Investor Client Services segment, foreign exchange, rates, and credits generated an income of $1.63 billion, which is 16 per cent higher when compared with the previous year. Equities were also higher during the period, climbing from $3.6 billion in 2017 to $3.9 billion in 2018, which is 9 per cent higher year-on-year.
The net profits attributable to shareholders came in at $4.5 billion in 2018, as against $969 million in 2017, which is almost 366 per cent higher. Diluted earning per share is $1.16 during the year.
The overall positive result was subdued as the bank has been fined with a penalty of HKD 375 million ($47.8 million) by the Securities and Futures Commission, Hong Kong, as its local subsidiaries failed to discharge their obligations in relation to IPOs of three companies.
The bank is also fighting litigation in a French court, where it has been slapped a penalty of 4.5 billion euro ($5.09 billion) last month on account of tax fraud. The court has found evidence that the firm has helped French citizens to evade tax, totalling billions of euros, from a period between 2004 to 2012.
