UBS Posts $1 Billion Net Profit In First Quarter

GENEVA (AP) – Switzerland’s biggest bank, UBS AG, has posted a profit of 988 million francs ($1.054 billion) for the first quarter, down 4.5 percent from its result in the comparable period a year ago.

The bank, based in Zurich, posted the decline from the 1.035 billion francs net profit in the first quarter of 2012.

Still, it was a major turnaround from the 1.9 billion francs loss the bank posted for the fourth quarter of 2012 in the wake of a series of lawsuits, scandals and a wave of restructuring.

Chief Executive Sergio Ermotti said in a statement Tuesday that “while it is too early to declare victory, we have shown our business model works in practice.”

He said the bank’s capital cushion rose to 10 percent, giving UBS “a competitive advantage.”