Credit Suisse reports 1Q net profit of $1.93 billion; strong inflow of new deposits

Credit Suisse earns $1.93 billion profit in Q1

GENEVA — Credit Suisse Group reported a first-quarter net profit of 2.06 billion Swiss francs ($1.93 billion) Thursday and said it was well placed to meet new banking rules due to come into force later this year.

The results met analyst expectations and are a marginal improvement on the bank’s 2 billion francs net profit during the first quarter of 2009.

Credit Suisse said it also saw strong inflows of new deposits from wealthy customers during the January-March period. Net new money — a closely watched indicator of future business in the banking industry — was 26 billion francs during the quarter, it said.

The Zurich-based bank said its Tier 1 capital ratio was 16.4 percent by the end of March, up from 16.3 percent at the end of the previous quarter. The higher the ratio, the more stable a bank is generally considered to be.

The Swiss financial regulator FINMA announced new rules for the country’s biggest banks Wednesday, including a requirement to hold enough cash and high-quality assets to be able to withstand a crisis situation for at least 30 days.

The new rules come into force June 30.

Credit Suisse, which unlike its rival UBS AG didn’t require a government bailout, said it was in a good position to meet the new requirements.