The three keys USB logo is seen outside the London office of Swiss bank UBS in central London, on March 20, 2023.Daniel Leal | AFP | Getty ImagesSwiss giant UBS on Wednesday beat bottom line expectations amid sharp returns in investment banking while warning of the global trade impact of sweeping U.S. tariffs as it seeks to rein in steep share declines.Net profit attributable to shareholders hit $1.692 billion in the first quarter, compared with a mean forecast of $1.359 billion in a LSEG poll of analysts. Group revenue over the stretch stood at $12.557 billion, versus analyst expectations of $12.99 billion.Other first-quarter highlights included:Return on tangible equity reached 8.5%, versus 3.9% in the fourth quarter.CET 1 capital ratio, a measure of bank solvency, was 14.3%, unchanged from the December quarter.The lender said it delivered a 32% year-on-year hike in revenues of the global markets unit of its investment banking arm, largely driven by “higher client activity in equities and FX with gains across all regions.” It also achieved a 15% hike in transaction-based hike in income in its key global wealth management unit.Speaking to CNBC’s Carolin Roth on Wednesday, UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti recognized a “challenging environment” in the first quarter, with a spate of “definitely extremely volatile” first few weeks in April that underpinned spikes in the volume of transactions that at times exceeded Covid-19 levels by 30%.Critically, the lender posted $1.629 billion in its net interest income (NII) — the difference between earnings from loans and investments and the payments on deposits — down 16% year-on-year and 11% from the fourth quarter, guiding for further declines in the June quarter.”In the second quarter we expect net interest income (NII) in Global Wealth Management to decline sequentially by a low single-digit percentage, and we see a similar decline in Personal & Corporate Banking’s NII in Swiss francs. In US dollar terms, Personal & Corporate Banking’s NII is expected to increase sequentially by a mid-single-digit percentage, based on current foreign exchange rates,” UBS said.Investors are keenly watching these metrics as European banks transition to an environment of monetary easing, particularly …
