UBS targets $5bn buyback as profit rises
Updated : 11:31
UBS almost doubled its share buyback to $5bn and raised its dividend after booming markets drove an increase in annual profit at the Swiss bank.
Net profit for the year to the end of December rose to $7.5bn from $6.6bn a year earlier as operating income increased to $35.5bn from $32.4bn.
After buying back $2.6bn of its own shares in 2021, UBS said it planned to repurchase up to $5bn in 2022. The bank increased its annual dividend to 50 cents a share from 37 cents a year earlier.
UBS shares rose 7% to CHF18.30 at 11:12 GMT - their highest value since February 2018.
Annual pretax profit rose 19% to $4.8bn at UBS's main wealth management business as clients gained from rising markets. UBS's investment bank reported $2.6bn of pretax profit. Assets managed by the bank rose to a record $4.5 trillion.
Fourth-quarter pretax profit fell 13% to $1.73m because of higher litigation expenses of $740m for laundering the proceeds of tax fraud in France.
Chief Executive Ralph Hamers said: “In 2021, clients continued to put their trust in us and turned to us for our content, for our advice and for our solutions."