UBS: dividend raised and share buybacks resumed

(CercleFinance.com) - On Tuesday, UBS announced a sharp rise in its dividend and the imminent resumption of its share buybacks.
However, these announcements failed to mask fairly disappointing Q4 results.

For 2023, the Swiss banking group plans to propose a dividend of $0.70 per share to its shareholders, up 27% y-o-y, subject to approval at the AGM scheduled for 24 April.

The Swiss bank has also pledged to gradually increase its dividend payments, with a coupon increase of around 15% in 2024.

UBS also intends to resume its share buybacks after completing its merger with Credit Suisse, which is expected by the end of Q2, anticipating up to $1bn in buybacks by 2024.

By 2026, share buybacks should exceed the level in FY 2022.

The group reported a Q4 pre-tax loss of $751m due to losses of $508m on its investment in SIX Group, in addition to integration-related expenses.

The net loss came to $279m, a loss that is bit below the consensus of -$285m.

Its forecasts also proved disappointing, with the group aiming to achieve around $510bn in expected risk-weighted assets by end-2026, against a consensus of $545bn.

Having achieved some $4bn in gross cost reductions in 2023 compared with FY 2022, it says that it is on track to achieve around $13bn in cumulative gross cost reductions by end-2026.

Listed on the Zurich Stock Exchange, UBS shares were down 2.8% in early trading on Tuesday morning in the wake of this publication.


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