Credit Suisse reports third annual loss, but says restructuring working

GENEVA, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Credit Suisse posted its third straight yearly loss on Wednesday, underscoring expenses in the fourth quarter of 2017 due to the overhaul of the U.S. tax system, but the bank said its restructuring efforts are working.

Switzerland's second biggest bank reported a net loss of 983 million Swiss francs (1.05 billion U.S. dollars) for the year and said that it paid 2.74 billion Swiss francs in income tax expenses.

These were primarily related to the re-assessment of deferred taxes resulting from the U.S. tax changes.

The Asia Pacific region generated adjusted pre-tax income of 792 million Swiss francs in 2017, delivering a solid return on regulatory capital of 15 percent.

The bank said the Asia Pacific region delivered its best quarterly results to date with adjusted pre-tax income of 239 million Swiss francs, driven by net revenues of 626 million Swiss francs.

Tidjane Thiam, chief executive of Credit Suisse, said in a statement, "Our 2017 results show that our strategy is working. In 2018, we will remain focused on disciplined execution and on delivering value for our clients and shareholders for the final year of our restructuring plan."

The CEO said that 2017 was a crucial year of delivery in the bank's three-year restructuring plan after 2016, which was a year of deep and radical reorganization and restructuring.

The bank said it is adopting "a cautious short-term outlook in this period of heightened volatility." Enditem