ZURICH: UBS booked a 17% jump in second-quarter profit on Wednesday, ahead of expectations, and said it plans to buy back shares worth $3 billion by the middle of next year at the latest.
Of that amount, it intends to repurchase at least $1 billion of shares over the next three months.
Net profit attributable to shareholders for Switzerland's biggest bank came in at $2.8 billion, compared with a forecast of $2.39 billion in a company-provided poll of analysts.
Its performance was driven by growth in wealth management and for its investment bank, with the trading division delivering a record second quarter, UBS said.
The share buyback plans follow $3 billion worth completed in July. Analysts had forecast UBS would conduct some $4.45 billion worth of buybacks during 2026.
UBS reiterated that the amount and pace of buybacks would depend on its short-term financial performance as well as the outcome of Swiss banking rules being debated in response to the 2023 collapse of Credit Suisse and its subsequent takeover by UBS. Concerned about the risks to the Swiss economy should UBS collapse, the government has sought to make the bank hold around $20 billion in additional Common Equity Tier 1 capital - a stance that UBS has said is excessive and would damage it competitively.
Lawmakers are expected to water down that requirement as they begin drafting the bill next month, as many fear requiring a permanent buffer of this scale could scare off UBS' investors. - Reuters
