UBS Shares Jump as Earnings Beat Fuels Boost to Buyback, Targets
- Swiss bank to buy back about $5 billion of shares in 2022
- Upgrades targets after net income and revenue beat estimates
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UBS Group AG surged to the highest level in four years after the bank surprised analysts by pledging to buy back as much as $5 billion of shares and posted ambitious profit and cost targets.
Switzerland’s largest lender, which also reported fourth-quarter profit and revenue that beat estimates, gained as much as 7.5% to the highest level since early 2018 and was trading 7% higher at 18.29 francs as of 12:09 p.m. in Zurich. The buyback was more than analysts had expected, while new goals for profitability and the cost-to-income ratio were seen as ambitious by analysts, particularly as a war for talent drives up banker salaries.