UBS Group Q4 Profit Declines; Maintains Dividend - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Swiss banking giant UBS Group AG (UBS) reported Friday that its fourth-quarter net profit attributable to shareholders declined to 738 million Swiss francs or 0.19 franc per share from last year's 949 million francs or 0.25 franc per share.

UBS's fourth-quarter profit before tax was 848 million francs and adjusted profit before tax was 1.11 billion francs.

Operating income increased to 7.06 billion francs from 6.78 billion francs a year ago.

Net interest income was 1.762 billion francs, same as last year's 1.759 billion francs.

Further, UBS said its Board of Directors intends to propose a dividend of 0.60 franc per share to shareholders, unchanged from 2015.

The company further said that lower than expected and negative interest rates, particularly in Switzerland and the eurozone, continue to present headwinds to net interest margins, which may be offset by the effect of higher US dollar interest rates. Implementing Switzerland's new bank capital standards and the proposed further changes to the international regulatory framework for banks will result in increasing capital requirements and costs.

UBS said it will continue to execute its strategy with discipline, positioning it to mitigate these challenges and to benefit from any further improvement in market conditions.