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Friday, February 13, 2009

Swiss banks hit by avalanche of record losses

Credit Suisse has followed the record corporate losses for Switzerland's biggest bank UBS with its own worst-ever annual performance, posting a net loss of 8.2 Swiss francs ($7 billion) for 2008. 

According to the bank's figures, full-year losses from continuing operations stood at 7.68 billion Swiss francs, compared to a profit of 7.75 billion Swiss francs the year before. 

In the last three months of 2008 alone, Credit Suisse recorded a net loss of six billion Swiss francs. 

The figures come just 24 hours after UBS revealed a record annual loss of 19.6 billion Swiss francs, including a net fourth quarter loss of 8.1 billion Swiss francs. 

UBS also confirmed that it has cut 1,782 jobs between September and December 2008. 

Commenting on the Credit Suisse results, the bank's chief executive Brady W Dougan said it had experienced a year of "unprecedented market turmoil" but had started 2009 strongly and was profitable across all divisions to date. 

Credit Suisse offers investment banking, private banking and asset management services in over 50 countries. The bank employs around 47,800 people. 

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