UBS stocks plunge
Bank says exposure to Lehman is under US$300 million
ZURICH - SHARES in UBS, Switzerland's biggest bank and one of the worst-hit by the subprime crisis, plunged more than 20 per cent on Tuesday the aftermath of the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers.
At 3.13 pm, the stock was down 20.15 per cent at 16.05 Swiss francs, as it became the top loser on the Swiss stock market, which was 3.9 per cent in negative territory.
Bank Helvea analyst Peter Thorne said UBS had sufficient capital but perhaps enough to calm investors' nerves.
'UBS has the capital to keep on going, but the logic doesn't play a role in the current market situation,' he said.
UBS has written down some 42.5 billion dollars on its subprime-related assets.
For its second quarter, it posted a net loss of 358 million Swiss francs (S$473 million).
Separately, UBS said that it has exposure worth less than 300 million dollars (S$430.8 million) to US investment bank Lehman Brothers, which filed for bankruptcy in a dramatic collapse.
'UBS confirms that its direct and counterparty exposures to Lehman Brothers, net of hedges, are now substantially closed out.
'UBS does not expect the total cost of closing out its exposures to Lehman to exceed 300 million dollars,' UBS said in a statement. -- AFP
Bank says exposure to Lehman is under US$300 million
ZURICH - SHARES in UBS, Switzerland's biggest bank and one of the worst-hit by the subprime crisis, plunged more than 20 per cent on Tuesday the aftermath of the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers.
At 3.13 pm, the stock was down 20.15 per cent at 16.05 Swiss francs, as it became the top loser on the Swiss stock market, which was 3.9 per cent in negative territory.
Bank Helvea analyst Peter Thorne said UBS had sufficient capital but perhaps enough to calm investors' nerves.
'UBS has the capital to keep on going, but the logic doesn't play a role in the current market situation,' he said.
UBS has written down some 42.5 billion dollars on its subprime-related assets.
For its second quarter, it posted a net loss of 358 million Swiss francs (S$473 million).
Separately, UBS said that it has exposure worth less than 300 million dollars (S$430.8 million) to US investment bank Lehman Brothers, which filed for bankruptcy in a dramatic collapse.
'UBS confirms that its direct and counterparty exposures to Lehman Brothers, net of hedges, are now substantially closed out.
'UBS does not expect the total cost of closing out its exposures to Lehman to exceed 300 million dollars,' UBS said in a statement. -- AFP
