Swiss bank UBS sinks deeper into the red

7 May 2008

ZURICH – Switzerland’s biggest bank UBS sank further into the red Tuesday when it reported first quarter losses for 2008 of CHF 11.53 billion.

The losses compared to 3.28 billion profit made during the same period in 2007.

The company it said it would look to reduce its workforce by 5,500 posts by mid-2009 if the situation did not improve, including the 2,600 job cuts already announced for 2008.

The bank said it had lost a further USD 19 billion as a result of the downward spiral in the US subprime market in 2007. The results were in line with the bank’s forecast in April.

UBS has seen the largest loss of any European bank.

The bank said it expected the unfavourable global economic outlook to continue which would require UBS "to manage costs, resources and capacity very efficiently," it said in a statement issued in Zurich.

[dpa / Expatica]