UBS flag up big first quarter profits rise

SWISS banking giant UBS flagged its highest profit since the start of the credit crunch in a statement yesterday ahead of a tough shareholder meeting tomorrow.

In a move seen as trying to defuse a protest from activist investors in the bank, UBS said pre-tax profit in the first three months of its year would be at least SFr2.5 billion (1.5bn).

That is nearly three times bigger than the previous quarter. City analysts said the profit was probably driven by very high fixed-income revenue.

UBS also said thatwithdrawals by rich clients had shrunk two-thirds from what they were in the previous quarter.