UBS raised its bonus pool by 28 per cent after its fourth-quarter results comfortably exceeded expectations, bringing down the curtain on what the Swiss bank hailed as a "transformational" year.

In the three months to the end of December, UBS posted net profits of SFr917 million, up from a SFr1.9 billion loss last year. Even stripping out a tax gain of SFr470 million, that was well ahead of analysts’ expectations of SFr354 million, in a Reuters poll.

Encouragingly for the Swiss bank, which a year and a half ago embarked on a radical overhaul of its investment bank in response to regulatory pressure and a series of high-profile mishaps, the improved results were due to both its flagship wealth management arm and its refashioned investment bank.– (Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2014)