Credit Suisse shares tumbled over five per cent today after the bank unveiled fourth-quarter results showing that rising costs had eroded an improvement in earnings.
The bank, Europe's seventh largest by market value, reported a 15 per cent rise in fourth-quarter net profit to 1.103 billion Swiss francs (€707 million), but a 26 per cent jump in costs helped erode gains from rising fees and private equity sales.
The result had already been cut by 421 million francs after the bank on Monday surprised investors by saying it would accelerate charges for share-based compensation for employees.
Its shares had tumbled 5.13 per cent to 74.0 Swiss francs by 0810 GMT, the biggest loser in the Dow Jones index of European blue chip stocks.
Credit Suisse is nearing the end of a lengthy and painful restructuring, recently welding its investment banking and wealth management operations together under a single brand.
Net profit for the quarter was slightly below analysts' expectations although net new assets in Credit Suisse's private banking business in the fourth quarter came in ahead of forecast.
The biggest setback was higher operating costs in the retail and investment banking business which drove up the cost-to-income ratio to 64.8 per cent at the end of the year from 59.4 per cent at the end of 2004.