UBS Group Q4 Earnings & Revenues Increase Y/Y, Credit Loss Expenses Up

UBS Group AG UBS reported a fourth-quarter 2024 net profit attributable to shareholders of $770 million against a net loss of $279 million in the prior-year quarter. Find the latest earnings estimates and surprises on the Zacks Earnings Calendar.Results were driven by the strong performances of the Global Wealth Management, Asset Management and Investment Bank divisions. The decrease in operating expenses was another positive. However, an increase in credit loss expenses was a headwind.For 2024, the company reported a net profit attributable to shareholders of $5.09 billion compared with a net profit of $27.4 billion in the prior-year quarter.UBS' Revenues & ExpensesThe company’s fourth-quarter total revenues jumped 7% year over year to $11.6 billion.For the year, the company’s revenues rose 19% year over year to $48.6 billion.Operating expenses decreased 10% year over year to $10.4 billion.UBS Group reported total credit loss expenses of $229 million, which surged 68% from the year-ago quarter.UBS Group Business Divisions’ PerformanceGlobal Wealth Management’s fourth-quarter operating profit before tax was $867 million, up from $280 million in the year-ago quarter. Asset Management’s operating profit before tax was $128 million, up 4.9% from the year-ago quarter.Personal & Corporate Banking reported operating profit before tax of $595 million, down 0.1% year over year. The Investment Bank unit reported an operating profit before tax of $479 million against the operating loss of $190 million in the year-ago quarter. Non-Core & Legacy incurred an operating loss before tax of $923 million in the reported quarter compared with a loss of $1.6 billion in the year-ago quarter.Group Items reported an operating loss before tax of $100 million against a profit of $93 million in the year-ago quarter.UBS' Capital PositionTotal assets fell 3.6% from the previous quarter’s end to $1.57 trillion.UBS’ return on Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital was 4.2% as of Dec. 31, 2024, against negative 1.4% as of Dec. 31, 2023.The risk-weighted assets declined 8.7% year over year to $498.5 billion.The CET1 capital declined 8.5% year over year to $71.4 billion. As of Dec. 31, 2024, UBS' invested assets were $6.1 trillion, up 7% year over year.UBS Group’s Capital Distribution UpdateFor 2024, the board of directors plans to propose a dividend of 90 cents per share to UBS shareholders. Subject to approval at the Annual General Meeting, scheduled for 10 April 2025, the dividend will be paid out on 17 April 2025 to shareholders of record as of 16 April 2025.The company remains committed to progressive dividends and is accruing an increase of around 10% in the ordinary dividend per share for 2025. In the fourth quarter of 2024, UBS completed its planned $1 billion worth of share repurchases. The company plans to repurchase $1 billion of shares in the first half of 2025 and aims to repurchase up to an additional $2 billion of shares in the second half of 2025.UBS Progresses With Credit Suisse Integration PlanThe company continued to execute its integration plans and significantly reducing the execution risk of the Credit Suisse acquisition. In the reported quarter, UBS maintained its cost optimization momentum, delivering an additional $0.7 billion in gross cost savings for a total of $3.4 billion in 2024 and $7.5 billion from the 2022 baseline, or 58% of the company’s total cumulative gross cost-saving ambition.With the successful migration of wealth management client accounts across booking centers in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Luxembourg, UBS Group has now transferred more than 90% of client accounts outside of Switzerland onto UBS platforms.With this, the company is well-positioned to enhance the client experience and unlock further cost reductions toward the end of 2025 and into 2026 as it delivers on its ambition of $13 billion in gross cost savings by the end of 2026.Our Take on UBS GroupUBS’s inorganic growth efforts will support its top line. The company achieved all integration milestones in 2024 and significantly reduced execution risks while its capital position remained robust. A declining expense base is an added advantage. The company’s faster-than-expected Credit Suisse integration looks encouraging.UBS Group AG Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise  UBS Group AG price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | UBS Group AG QuoteCurrently, UBS Group carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Earnings Release Dates of Other Foreign BanksBarclays BCS is expected to report fourth-quarter and 2024 results on Feb. 18.Over the past seven days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BCS’s 2024 earnings has been unchanged at $1.53 per share, indicating a rise of 10.9% from the prior-year quarter’s actual.HSBC Holdings HSBC is expected to announce the fourth quarter and 2024 results on Feb. 19.Over the past seven days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for HSBC’s 2024 earnings has been unchanged at $6.67 per share, indicating a rise of 5.5% from the prior-year quarter’s actual.Research Chief Names "Single Best Pick to Double"From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.This company targets millennial and Gen Z audiences, generating nearly $1 billion in revenue last quarter alone. A recent pullback makes now an ideal time to jump aboard. Of course, all our elite picks aren’t winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Nano-X Imaging which shot up +129.6% in little more than 9 months.Free: See Our Top Stock And 4 Runners UpWant the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Barclays PLC (BCS): Free Stock Analysis Report UBS Group AG (UBS): Free Stock Analysis Report HSBC Holdings plc (HSBC): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks