UBS Q3 profit jumps 47% on higher revenue, lower costs

Investing.com -- Swiss banking group UBS Group AG on Wednesday reported a profit before tax of $2.8 billion for the third quarter of 2025, a 47% increase from a year earlier, as the lender advanced its integration of Credit Suisse and achieved cost savings ahead of schedule.

Net profit attributable to shareholders rose 74% to $2.5 billion, according to the company’s quarterly statement.

“We delivered an excellent 3Q25 financial performance powered by significant momentum in our core businesses and disciplined execution of our strategic priorities,” Group Chief Executive Sergio P. Ermotti said in a statement. “We’ve seen strong private and institutional client activity with invested assets reaching nearly 7 trillion.”

The Zurich-based bank said underlying profit before tax increased 50% to $3.6 billion, with a return on common equity tier 1 capital (RoCET1) of 13.5%, or 16.3% on an underlying basis. Diluted earnings per share were $0.76. Total revenues rose 3% to $12.76 billion, while operating expenses fell 4% to $9.83 billion.

UBS said its core divisions, Global Wealth Management, Personal and Corporate Banking, Asset Management and the Investment Bank, delivered a 28% rise in underlying profit before tax from a year earlier, or 19% excluding litigation items. 

Group invested assets increased 4% from the previous quarter to $6.9 trillion. Global Wealth Management added $38 billion in net new assets for the quarter and $92 billion year-to-date, while Asset Management attracted $18 billion in net new money, lifting invested assets above $2 trillion for the first time.

UBS reported record third-quarter performances in Global Banking and Global Markets, where revenues rose 52% and 14%, respectively. Transaction-based income in Global Wealth Management increased 11% on an underlying basis.

The bank said it had migrated more than two-thirds of Swiss-booked client accounts and expects to complete the process by the end of the first quarter of 2026. 

Integration of Asset Management was substantially completed in October. UBS achieved an additional $0.9 billion in gross cost savings during the quarter, bringing cumulative savings to $10 billion, one quarter ahead of schedule and representing 77% of its targeted $13 billion in savings by the end of 2026.

UBS’s CET1 capital ratio rose to 14.8%, and its CET1 leverage ratio stood at 4.6%. The group completed $1.1 billion in share buybacks during the quarter and plans up to $0.9 billion more in the fourth quarter to reach $3 billion for 2025.

The bank’s Non-core and Legacy portfolio recorded a $1.9 billion reduction in risk-weighted assets to $30.7 billion. 

UBS released $668 million in net litigation reserves following the resolution of matters related to Credit Suisse’s residential mortgage-backed securities business and UBS’s former cross-border activities in France.

The group granted or renewed CHF 40 billion in loans during the quarter and maintained a loan-to-deposit ratio of 83% with a cost of risk of 6 basis points.

UBS said it will appeal a Swiss Federal Administrative Court decision that revoked the 2023 write-off of CHF 16 billion in Credit Suisse additional tier 1 instruments. 

The bank also filed a U.S. national bank charter application in October and expanded its use of generative AI tools, logging 18 million prompts in the quarter.

UBS reported total assets of $1.63 trillion, a workforce of 104,427, and a market capitalization of $136.4 billion as of Sept. 30.