Credit Suisse has reported a net loss of 2.347 billion Swiss francs ($2.337 billion) for the fourth quarter of 2016 as the bank felt the impact of a $5.28 billion fine from the U.S. Department of Justice.
The fine in December stems from the bank’s sale of toxic mortgage assets in the lead up to the 2008 global financial crisis and brings an end to a “major source of uncertainty” for the bank, according to Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam.
The fourth-quarter figure was worse than expected from a Reuters poll of economists. The bank reported a net loss of 2.438 billion Swiss francs for the whole of 2016, versus a 2.944 billion Swiss franc loss in 2015.
The bank did achieve full-year net cost savings of 1.9 billion Swiss francs ($1.89 billion), it said, ahead of projections set out by the bank in its overhaul strategy. It also stated that it would further reduce its headcount in 2017 by 5,500 jobs.
Thiam said in a press note: “2016 was the first full year of implementing our new strategy and it was a challenging and busy 12 months. Thanks to our strong client franchise and the dedication of our teams, we have made good progress on our key objectives.”
“Our teams have worked hard and made good progress during a challenging year: They achieved a positive finish to the year. Many of the positive trends that we observed in 4Q16 have continued into January 2017. We believe we are well positioned to continue to make progress with our restructuring program in 2017 and 2018, and to capture profitable growth opportunities across our franchises and geographies.”
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