This photo shows the sign of the Swiss banking giant UBS at a branch in Zurich on March 4, 2026.
Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty Images
UBS reported pretax profit of approximately $3.6 billion in the third quarter, up 27% from the year-ago period and roughly in line with consensus estimates.
The Swiss banking and wealth management giant recorded significant net inflows into its global wealth management business.
Net income for the third quarter was $2.7 billion, in line with expectations.
UBS stock is up about a quarter this year
The Zurich-based institution’s common equity tier (CET) 1 capital ratio, a measure of a bank’s solvency, reached 14.7% during the period, up from 14.4% in the previous quarter.
Strong inflows into the global wealth management business supported results, with net new assets reaching $55.1 billion by the end of the quarter. UBS recorded $12.5 billion in customer commitments across its wealth management and asset management businesses.
The bank said in its third-quarter earnings report Wednesday that the Credit Suisse combination is “on track to be completed” by the end of the year and will result in cumulative cost savings of $13.7 billion, more than the $13.5 billion originally expected.
UBS in battle with Swiss government over risk tools
UBS is in an ongoing dispute with the Swiss government over a proposed increase in capital buffers aimed at protecting taxpayers from future banking crises and the spread of infections from the bank’s overseas subsidiaries following the collapse of Credit Suisse.
The bank is considered systemically important to the Swiss economy. Last month, the country’s Senate passed a bill that would require UBS to hold an additional 90% of its Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital, or about $16 billion, as collateral to support its overseas subsidiaries. The current level is approximately 45%. UBS wants to reduce that to 50% or less.
Ermotti said Wednesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” that the bank’s customers expect it to be competitive. “Ninety percent of the time, it’s not going to allow him to be a competitive player in the long run,” Ermotti told CNBC’s Carolyn Ross. “I am very concerned about this development.”
Ermotti said in an earlier statement that UBS’s strong third-quarter results highlight the benefits of the company’s diversified global business model, adding that the company remains “strategically committed to its diversified business model and global and regional expansion.”
