UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) reported Q4 EPS of CHF0.26, versus CHF0.20 reported last year.

Commentary from UBS:

For the fourth quarter of 2014, we reported a net profit attributable to shareholders of CHF 963. The result included a net tax benefit of CHF 493 million. All of our business divisions were profitable, resulting in a Group adjusted1 profit before tax of CHF 648 million. Our performance once again demonstrated the fundamental earnings power of our business and its ability to deliver in a challenging environment.

In 2014, UBS continued to reduce risk-weighted assets (RWA), improve its leverage ratio, and maintain the best fully applied Basel III CET 1 ratio in its peer group. These achievements, along with the 13% rise in net profit, enabled the firm to deliver attractive returns to its shareholders. Consequently, UBS intends to propose an ordinary dividend of CHF 0.50 per share for the financial year 2014, an increase of 100% on the prior year and a payout ratio of 53% of the Group's reported net profit.

Reflecting progress in the establishment of the new Group holding company, including the successful completion of the share-for-share exchange offer, UBS fully accrued a supplementary capital return of CHF 0.25 per share in the fourth quarter of 2014. Subject to shareholder approval, UBS Group AG intends to pay this one-time supplementary capital return upon successful completion of the squeeze-out procedure. UBS Group AG intends (subject to market conditions) to enter the capital markets with its initial offering of additional tier 1 (AT1) capital securities later this month.

Commenting on UBS’s full-year and fourth-quarter results, Group Chief Executive Officer Sergio P. Ermotti said, "I am pleased with what we have achieved in 2014. The results are strong, our capital is strong and we've completed our strategic transformation, preparing us well for the future. While it's premature to draw a conclusion about the quarter, we've had a solid start to the year. This gives us additional confidence to propose a significant capital return to our shareholders."

Outlook:

At the start of the first quarter of 2015, many of the underlying challenges and geopolitical issues that we have previously highlighted remain. The mixed outlook for global growth, the absence of sustained and credible improvements to unresolved issues in Europe, continuing US fiscal and monetary policy issues, increasing geopolitical instability and greater uncertainty surrounding the potential effects of lower and potentially volatile energy and other commodity prices, would make improvements in prevailing market conditions unlikely. In addition, recent moves by the Swiss National Bank to remove the EUR / CHF floor and by the European Central Bank to increase its balance sheet expansion via quantitative easing have added additional challenges to the financial markets and to Swiss-based financial services firms specifically. The increased value of the Swiss franc relative to other currencies, especially the US dollar and the euro, and negative interest rates in the eurozone and Switzerland will put pressure on our profitability and, if they persist, on some of our targeted performance levels. Despite ongoing and new challenges, we will continue to execute on our strategy in order to ensure the firm’s long-term success and to deliver sustainable returns for our shareholders.

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