Credit Suisse logs worst annual loss since global financial crisis

Credit Suisse logs worst annual loss since global financial crisis

ZURICH (Reuters) -Credit Suisse Group on Thursday reported its worst annual loss since the 2008 global financial crisis, battered by scandals and heavy losses that led to unprecedented customer withdrawals.

Switzerlands second biggest bank posted a net loss in the fourth quarter of 1.39 billion Swiss francs ($1.51 billion), in line with an analyst consensus estimate of 1.34 billion francs compiled by the lender.

The bank had flagged in November a hefty quarterly loss.

The result compares with a 2 billion franc loss in the same quarter a year earlier, and brings Credit Suisses total net loss in 2022 to 7.29 billion francs, marking its second straight year in the red.

Net asset outflows for the last three months of the year totalled 110.5 billion Swiss francs, the bank said.

The haemorrhaging of funds last year led to it breach some liquidity requirements.

The bank, however, completed a 4 billion Swiss franc fundraising in December and said liquidity levels had been boosted, while Koerner said last month that Credit Suisse was “seeing money now coming back in different parts of the firm.”

Among a slew of scandals in recent years, Credit Suisse has been particularly hard hit by its $5.5 billion loss on U.S. investment firm Archegos and the freezing of $10 billion worth of supply chain finance funds linked to insolvent British financier Greensill.

($1 = 0.9195 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by Noele Illien; editing by John Stonestreet and Edwina Gibbs)