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Bloomberg
Tidjane Thiam is looking forward to things getting back to normal.
In an interview with Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag, the chief executive officer of Credit Suisse Group AG said the bank is now targeting “business as usual†after years of restructuring.
“Over the past three years we worked day and night to deal with our legacy from the past,†he said, referring to positions in the trading unit that it downsized.
While Credit Suisse is still one of Europe’s largest investment banks, its main focus is managing money for wealthy entrepreneurs around the globe and especially in emerging markets. Thiam’s pitch is that the bank would use its investment-banking expertise to serve the ultra rich.
The bank is also planning to redeem contingent convertible bonds — which automatically become equity when reserves fall below a pre-set threshold — to help ease funding costs. The bank issued the debt after the crisis, unlike its rival UBS Group AG which was bailed out by the Swiss government.
Thiam said “business as usual†will mean Credit Suisse can earn between $5.2 billion to $6.2 billion in pretax profit in 2019 and in 2020 and that 2018 will be somewhat lower. These figures are in line with analyst expectations and company indications.
In its latest presentation to investors, Credit Suisse said it may generate net income of 9 billion to 10 billion francs in 2019 and 2020 based on the company’s capital return targets of 10 to 11 percent for 2019 and 11 to 12 percent for 2020.
The lender’s next possible catalyst is a December investor day. While recent stock upgrades at Autonomous and Barclays suggest some analysts are more optimistic, its share price remains under pressure after the bank raised more than 10 billion francs in capital over three years. Thiam said the share-price weakness and the capital increases are linked.