When last we checked in on Credit Suisse (CS), things weren’t going so well.
The bank had just reported a $6 billion loss – in the fourth quarter. The red ink for 2015 totaled some $3 billion, representing the firm’s first annual loss since the financial crisis. Shares promptly plunged 13% to their lowest level in nearly a quarter century.
That was the first time the market got a look at a report issued under CEO Tidjane Thiam’s new structure which aims to increase the bank’s focus on wealth management while scaling back investment banking where revenues fell 17% last year thanks to market “volatility.” Fixed income revenue plunged by two-thirds.
Thiam is planning on cutting some 4,000 jobs in the restructuring. Actually no, scratch that. As of Wednesday morning, Thiam is planning on cutting 6,000 jobs. On a call with reporters, the CEO – who took the reins last summer – announced the firm’s second restructuring plan in five months (“restructuring-er-er”) as trading revenue is now projected down a horrific 45% in Q1.
“We’re cutting deeper, there will be more restructuring costs,” Thiam told Bloomberg this morning. “What we’ve announced today is really pushing the cost-cutting program further,’ Thiam said in the interview. “If you look at markets, January was the worst January ever.”
Yes, “the worst January ever” as IBCM posted a Q1 loss as a dearth of primary market activity hurt underwriting revenues. Thiam has requested a 40% cut in his own variable pay. “Credit Suisse plans to exit most of the distressed credit, European securitized product trading and long-term illiquid funding, while equities will remain ‘a core area of focus,’” Bloomberg reports.
Here’s Goldman with a summary of what Thiam announced this morning:
