UBS Group AG (UBS, Financials) reported a fourth-quarter net profit of $800 million, bringing its full-year 2024 profit to $5.1 billion.
With an extra $2 billion aimed for later in the year, the Swiss bank suggested a dividend of $0.90 per share, a 29% increase year-over-year, and aims to buy $1 billion in shares in the first half of 2025.
Before tax, the bank reported a fourth-quarter profit of $1 billion; underlying profit before tax was $1.8 billion, a 198% rise from the previous year. UBS reported a profit before tax of $6.8 billion for the whole year, with an underlying profit before tax of $8.8 billion. In the fourth quarter, the return on common equity tier 1 capital was 4.2%, and for the whole year, it was 6.7%.
With UBS stating $18 billion in net new assets in its worldwide wealth management division in the fourth quarter, increasing the full-year total to $97 billion, client activity remained robust. In the fourth quarter, the asset management segment drew $33 billion in net fresh money; throughout the whole year, it attracted $45 billion. Rising to $6.1 trillion, the group's overall invested assets grew by 7% from the year before.
In investment banking, where underlying revenues increased 37% year over year in the fourth quarter, UBS cited exceptional performance. Reflecting great client involvement, the profits came from expansion in global banking and markets.
The bank said it had made significant progress in meeting its 2024 targets by integrating Credit Suisse. Over the fourth quarter, UBS effectively merged important operational entities and moved wealth management client accounts between Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. As part of the change, the bank also closed outdated programs.
UBS achieved $700 million in gross cost savings in the fourth quarter, thereby augmenting the total to $3.4 billion for the year. Efforts at cost-cutting continued. The bank has saved over 60% of its entire cost-reducing objective—$7.5 billion—since 2022. In the fourth quarter, UBS's non-core wind-down business lowered risk-weighted assets by $3 billion; throughout the whole year, this dropped overall risk-weighted assets by $33 billion.
Ending 2024 with a 14.3% CET1 capital ratio and a 4.7% CET1 leverage ratio, UBS had a robust capital position. Keeping a capital cushion, the bank bought $1 billion in shares and intends further buybacks in 2025. Reiterating its commitment to shareholder returns, the corporation has committed to a 10% dividend per share increase for 2025.
Aiming for an underlying return on CET1 capital of over 15% by 2026 and 18% by 2028, UBS reiterated its 2026 and 2028 financial objectives. To improve efficiency and customer service, the bank intends further investments in cloud infrastructure, artificial intelligence, and other technologies.
