UBS to slash 2,000 more jobs; posts huge Q4 loss

Swiss financial services major UBS will be cutting about 2,000 jobs this year after the entity incurred a huge loss of 8.1 billion Swiss francs for the December quarter.

The Swiss giant, rattled by the worsening global economic conditions, has posted a loss of 8.1 billion Swiss franc (about $6.97 billion) for the quarter ended December 31.

It had a profit of 296 million Swiss francs in the corresponding period a year ago, UBS said in a statement.

UBS would also be reducing headcount at its securities unit to 15,000 by the end of 2009. The division had over 17,000 employees till 2008 end.

 

"The investment bank will also further reduce its headcount to 15,000 by the end of the year (this does not include staff who will be managing positions from businesses that UBS is exiting)," the statement said.

According to the company, workforce was reduced to 77,783 as on December 31, 2008. A total of 1,782 jobs were axed in the fourth quarter, with most of the job cuts taking place in the "investment bank".

In the fourth quarter, the entity's pre-tax loss widened to 7.48 billion Swiss francs from 2.75 billion Swiss francs in the year-ago period.