Credit Suisse third-quarter net falls 63% Credit Suisse said it would boost its cost-cutting programme by a further SFr1bn ($1.07bn) as its third-quarter net profits fell 63 per cent, due in part to an accounting charge on the value of the Swiss bank's own debt. In July, following pressure from the Swiss National Bank, Credit Suisse launched a programme to increase its capital by SFr15.3bn and said that it would seek to make SFr3bn in cost savings by the end of 2013. It is now targeting savings of SFr4bn by the end of 2015. Brady Dougan, chief executive, said that Credit Suisse had "realigned our business to better meet the demands of a changed regulatory and market environment." In the three months to September 30, net revenues at Switzerland's second-largest bank was SFr5.8bn, down 15 per cent on the same period a year before, while net profits dropped from SFr683m to SFr254m, falling short of analysts" expectations of SFr370m. Credit Suisse's progress was slowed by a charge of SFr1.05bn, the bulk of which related to a change in the theoretical cost of buying back its own debt. On an underlying basis, the bank said that it made profits of SFr891m after tax and SFr1.2bn before tax. The bulk of the pre-tax profit came from Credit Suisse's private banking division, which posted profits of SFr 689m, down 11 per cent on the second quarter, on revenues that remained flat at SFr2.6bn. The asset management division brought in pre-tax profits of SFr222m, while the investment bank made SFr508m, up by a third on the previous quarter, helped by a strong performance from its fixed income and trading operations. This mirrored the performance of US investment banks, which have also been helped by the Federal Reserve's decision to start a third round of quantitative easing. The division also benefited from a pick-up in corporate activity, with underwriting and advisory revenues up 35 per cent on the preceding quarter. Despite the improved performance, however, Credit Suisse said that it was still seeking to improve the division's risk profile, and would aim to cut its risk-weighted assets from SFr204bn to SFr180bn by the end of 2013. The move is part of the bank's broader drive to bolster its capital ratios ahead of the introduction of tougher requirements under Basel III. On the far less exacting Basel II.5 basis, the bank said that its core tier one ratio was now 14.7 per cent. Shares in the company were down 0.38 per cent at SFr21.25 in early morning trading in Zürich.