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The
result, which comes as Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam makes
sweeping cost cuts and implements a new strategy, received a
guarded welcome from analysts and investors, who had expected
the 302 million Swiss franc ($311 million) loss to be steeper.
But Thiam cautioned of an uncertain future. "While we saw
tentative signs of a pick-up in ... March and then in April,
subdued market conditions and low levels of client activity are
likely to persist in the second quarter of 2016 and possibly
beyond," he said in a statement.
Earlier warnings from Thiam that 2016 would be a difficult year
had prepared investors for the worst. The average forecast from
nine analysts polled by Reuters was for a 424 million franc
loss.
Credit Suisse shares jumped more than 4 percent in early trade.
Nonetheless, the result is further sobering news for
shareholders of the bank, whose chief executive recently faced
criticism following his admission that he had been unaware of
the size of positions behind a $1 billion plus writedown.
Thiam's vision for more stable earnings through higher revenues
in wealth management and less reliance on investment banking
have received support from major investors.
He is also looking to cut costs by more than 3 billion francs by
2018 and to reduce the bank's global headcount by 6,000.
The bank said it was confident it could meet or beat its 1.7
billion franc target of cost savings by the end of the year.
More than 1,000 jobs were cut in its restructuring of its
'global markets'.
Thiam, 53, has said he expects restructuring to cost 1 billion
francs in 2016.
However, tough markets have hampered Thiam, who took over in
July and outlined his blueprint for Switzerland's second-biggest
bank in October.
The bank's share price has languished amid doubts about whether
Credit Suisse will achieve 2018 profit targets as well as
concerns over its capital position.
At the end of the first quarter, Credit Suisse's common equity
tier 1 capital ratio, a measure of its financial strength, held
steady at 11.4 percent of risk-weighted assets, within its
target of 11-12 percent for 2016 but far behind the 14 percent
at rival UBS.
(Reporting by Joshua Franklin; Editing by John O'Donnell and
Mark Potter)
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