Talks between Royal Mail and union end without a deal; UBS faces investors over merger with Credit Suisse
The UBS chairman has told investors that the emergency takeover of Credit Suisse last month marked a “historic day” but one that the Swiss bank “hoped would not happen,” as he warned the first-ever merger of two globally systemically important banks came with “execution risk”.
Addressing more than 1,100 shareholders at the St Jakobshalle arena near Basel, Switzerland, UBS chairman Colm Kelleher said:
It was a historic day and a day we hoped would not happen. Yet it is a significant milestone, not only for UBS and Credit Suisse but also for Switzerland, for the global financial industry.
Having a clear vision and a sound strategy is important….This transaction is the first merger of two global systemically important banks. This is not in any way an easy deal to do and brings with it execution risk.
The eurozone economy continues to bounce back from the lull we saw at the back-end of 2022 and the latest PMI survey will add fresh conviction to the view that, at least for now, the euro area is clear of a recession.
March’s increase in economic activity mainly reflected strong growth across the service sector. Better momentum here is encouraging given the squeeze on household incomes from high inflation and rising borrowing costs. However, the picture is mixed at the country level, with a considerable upward push to growth coming from Spain and, to a lesser extent, Italy during March. It is difficult to envisage expansions of these magnitudes being sustained, meaning that a further strengthening of growth is dependent on other parts of the eurozone.
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