Credit Suisse
(CS) said it will buy back up to $3 billion in its own bonds to save money on debt servicing costs while taking advantage of low prices.
The announcement on Friday comes after investors displayed concerns about the financial position of the troubled Swiss bank before it announces its restructuring plan later this month.
Shares plunged to a record low earlier this week but have since recovered. They rallied sharply on Friday, jumping 6% in morning trading in Zurich. They’re still down almost 50% year-to-date.
The bond announcement sends a message to investors that Credit Suisse is not overly worried about conserving cash.
Analysts have rushed to dig through the bank’s books after social media rumors stoked questions about whether it has sufficient capital to withstand deep losses or to deal with a sudden shock.
Credit Suisse is preparing to shrink its investment bank and beef up its wealth management arm — an expensive endeavor that could cost 6 billion Swiss francs ($6 billion), according to a recent analysis from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. Asset sales would likely cover just 2 billion Swiss francs.
While years of scandals and fines have hurt the bank’s business, experts say Switzerland’s second biggest bank is not about to fail — though market turmoil could make it harder to raise the money it needs to finance its turnaround ambitions.
“From our perspective, looking at company financials at the end of [the second quarter], we see [Credit Suisse’s] capital and liquidity position as healthy,” JPMorgan Chase analyst Kian Abouhossein wrote in a note to clients.
Source: CNN
