Not much fun having to wear write-downs of SFr5.28bn in Q1 - more than double the hit taken in the last quarter of 2007 and well above forecasts. But then Credit Suisse is in the lucky position of being able to recalibrate its balance sheet after its little “mis-marking” scandal while everyone’s focus remains glued to its hapless local rival, UBS.
But here are the latest Alpine nasties:
Behind those writedowns some aggressive damage-limitation work has clearly been underway. Exposure to LBO commitments has been slashed from SFr35.1bn to SFr20.8bn and in commercial mortgages from SFr25.9bn to SFr19.3bn.
As far as the CS trading book goes, the exposures now look almost negligible:
What’s missing, though, from an otherwise glossy presentation pack is any further update on February’s news that some of its traders deliberately overvalued their positions, causing 2007’s numbers to be revised and plunging the bank into losses of almost SFr2.15bn in Q1. Disclosure of that little problem came just a week after the publication of 2007’s results.
More on that when the regulators have got to grip with the matter, we assume.
One extra table-of-the-times - the CS Performance incentive plan:
Related links:
Credit Suisse hit by SFr5.3bn write-down - FT.com
Credit Suisse plunges on $2.85bn writedown - FT.com
