First the good news: UBS produced a better-than-expected SFr1.2bn profit in its fourth quarter, the Swiss bank's first since Oswald Grübel became chief executive a year ago. The turnround pared UBS's full-year loss to SFr2.7bn – from 2008's record SFr21.3bn loss – marking an early victory for Mr Grübel's cost reduction plan, although a one-off tax credit and reduced charges on UBS's own debt also helped. Now the bad news: outflows from the group's wealth management and Swiss banking operations nearly doubled to SFr33bn compared with the previous quarter, and SFr12bn leaked from its US wealth business. Mr Grübel hopes a return to sustainable profitability will restore clients' confidence. Yet wielding the scalpel might prove to have been the easiest part of creating “the new UBS”. Stemming the haemorrhage of rich clients might be harder to achieve.
先说好消息：瑞银(UBS)第四季度业绩优于预期，实现净利润12亿瑞郎，这是首席执行官郭儒博(Oswald Grübel)上任一年来瑞银首度盈利。这一逆转使瑞银全年亏损额从2008年创记录的213亿瑞郎，收窄至27亿瑞郎，标志着郭儒博削减成本的计划初战告捷，尽管一次性税收抵免和对瑞银自身债务计提的会计费用减少也在其中起到了作用。现在说说坏消息：瑞银财富管理部门和瑞士银行业务的资金流出较上一季度几乎增加了一倍，达到330亿瑞郎，美国理财业务的资金流出也达到120亿瑞郎。郭儒博希望，随着银行恢复可持续的盈利，客户能够重新树立信心。然而，大刀阔斧地削减成本或许是打造“新瑞银”过程中最容易的事情。遏止有钱客户的流失可能难度更大。