Credit Suisse posts third straight quarterly profit

Credit Suisse Group AG, Switzerland’s biggest bank by market value, reported the highest quarterly profit in more than two years on gains from trading.

Net income was 2.35 billion Swiss francs ($2.33 billion) in the third quarter, compared with a 1.26 billion-franc loss a year earlier, the Zurich-based bank said in a statement today. Credit Suisse fell as much as 4.6 per cent in Swiss trading as stocks tumbled across Europe and analysts said the results disappointed in some respects.

“Quality did not fully match quantity,” said Citigroup Inc. analysts led by Andrew Coombs in a note today. Investment banking earnings met estimates because of lower costs, rather than gains in revenue, while private banking results were mixed, with “strong” new money inflows offset by narrowing margins, the analysts said.

The bank, which dodged the worst of the financial crisis and shunned state aid, benefited from the record-low interest rates that also bolstered profit at JPMorgan Chase & Co and Goldman Sachs Group Inc Chief Executive Officer Brady Dougan is optimistic about the bank’s business model for 2010 and remains “cautious” about the markets, he said in an interview.

Credit Suisse declined 2.20 francs, or 3.7 per cent, to 57.85 francs by 4:33 pm in Zurich. The shares rose 103 per cent so far this year, outpacing the 89 per cent advance by Deutsche Bank AG and Zurich-based UBS AG’s 26 per cent increase.