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 Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam's blueprint for Credit Suisse has
received a mixed response from the market, with shares down more
than 40 percent since he took charge at the bank in July.
On the back of its first full-year loss since 2008 last year, the
bank has warned 2016 will likely be another tough year but Thiam
said the strategy would eventually bear fruit.
"We are building our platform for the future," Thiam told
shareholders at its annual general meeting (AGM) in Zurich,
delivering his speech in a mixture of French and German.
"That can seem like a tough task, and one that rarely wins many
plaudits in the short term but it is the only path that will lead to
success in the long term."
Thiam wants to pare back Credit Suisse's investment bank and focus
on wealth management. His strategy included a new management
structure, raising about 6 billion Swiss francs ($6.2 billion) in
fresh capital and a partial initial public offering of its Swiss
business.
Chairman Urs Rohner said he was convinced the strategic plan,
announced in October, had put the bank on the right track but that
its implementation would place "considerable demands on all the
parties concerned over the next two years".
Its shares fell 4 percent to 14.58 francs by 1011 GMT (5:11 a.m. ET)
while the Stoxx European bank sector index fell 1.4 percent.
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Major shareholders have backed Thiam's strategy, but there are
concerns that Credit Suisse is looking to expand in Asian wealth
management just as Chinese growth is slowing.
Some also fear Thiam's targets are too optimistic, including one to
more than double pre-tax income from Asia Pacific in 2018.
Thiam told the AGM that the recent share slide had been
disappointing for him personally.
"I believe that in the longer term," Thiam said, "there is only one
way to improve Credit Suisse's share price: demonstrating the merits
of our strategy and the value of our team through the delivery of
strong and consistent results."
(Reporting by Joshua Franklin; Editing by Michael Shields)
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