UBS posted its best ever first-quarter profit today as the world's sixth-largest bank benefited from a boom in bond trading and wealthy clients poured new money into its investment funds.
Net profit doubled to $1.87 billion from £1.21 billion sterling a year ago, pushing UBS shares up more than 1 per cent in early trading.
The world's biggest asset manager, with $1.7 trillion in client assets, said the year had started with an "extremely strong" first quarter but cautioned that the "excellent" combination of business conditions was unlikely to continue.
UBS's solid performance mirrors that of its Wall Street peers, where booming bond market trading income has produced a bumper crop of record results, and will help bury the Swiss-based group's image as a safe but boring bear-market bet.
Analysts say UBS is better positioned for an end to the fixed-income party than many rivals since its huge wealth management business can cushion weakness in investment banking.
In the first quarter, UBS revenues were evenly divided between investment banking and wealth management. "We have delivered record growth, and that growth is totally balanced," chief executive Mr Peter Wuffli said.