Swiss bank cashes in on derivatives

THE BOOM in the City's derivatives and options markets last year was confirmed by more than doubled profits at Credit Suisse Financial Products, a London offshoot of the Swiss bank.

It made Sfr444m ( pounds 207m) after tax last year compared with Sfr200m in 1992, Credit Suisse said when it released its annual results in Switzerland. The scale of the profits at CSFP, held by the jointly- owned offshoot CS First Boston, amounted to nearly a third of group profits.

Josef Ackermann, Credit Suisse chief executive officer, said: 'This very good result was achieved while consistently applying our conservative risk policy.'

Credit Suisse, consolidating the accounts of Swiss Volksbank for the first time, reported that group net profits rose to Sfr1.460bn from a revised Sfr955m in 1992.

Provisions, losses and write-offs, excluding those on fixed assets, rose to Sfr2.255bn from Sfr1.209bn.