UBS exceeds $1bn profit despite rogue trade loss

UBS on Tuesday said 3Q11 profits fell 39 percent owing to the financial loss of around CHF1.8bn ($2.2bn) from an unauthorised trading incident in September.

The bank’s net profit beat analysts’ predictions however, as a better than expected $1.13bn was announced due to a large accounting gain which offset the shortfall.

Figures were down from the CHF1.66bn reported for the same period last year but were equal to results published in the second quarter of 2011.

The lender said investigations into the loss were continuing. “Our financial, capital and funding positions remain solid and we believe the action we are taking now will strengthen the firm further”, a UBS statement said.