UBS撇帐后获新投资者注资

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UBS Gains Two New Investors,
Writes Down $10 Billion
By ANITA GREIL
December 10, 2007 3:14 a.m.

ZURICH -- UBS AG Monday said that two strategic foreign investors committed to inject capital worth 13 billion Swiss francs ($11.5 billion) as part of a broader move to strengthen capital as the Swiss bank announced a further $10 billion in write-downs on subprime holdings.

UBS, based in Zurich, also revised its outlook, saying it now expects to post a net loss attributable to shareholders in the fourth quarter, after having said earlier that it expects a profit overall. The bank said it was now possible that it will record a net loss for the full year.

Analysts had expected that the bank would be forced to write down its subprime holdings by up to $10 billion, but only few had forecast a capital increase and the entry of a big strategic investor.

UBS said that the Government of Singapore Investment Corp., or GIC, is investing 11 billion francs, while an undisclosed strategic investor in the Middle East is contributing two billion francs. Market participants speculated that this second investor could be Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, which had also invested in Citigroup Inc., or the government of Oman.

GIC will own around 9% of UBS following its investment, GIC Deputy Chairman Tony Tan said at a news conference in Singapore. GIC's investment in the Swiss bank is long term, the fund isn't looking for management control of the Swiss bank, he added.

UBS is issuing mandatory convertible notes worth 13 billion francs for these investments, which will pay a coupon of 9%. This is subject to approval from shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting in mid-February.

"Our losses in the U.S. mortgage securities market are substantial but could have been absorbed by our earnings and capital base," UBS Chairman Marcel Ospel said in a statement. "Nevertheless, it is important to always maintain a notably strong capital position to support the continued growth of our wealth management business, which is the largest generator of value to UBS shareholders."

UBS said it attracted new money from clients of around 30 billion francs in October and November.

The bank said it has introduced measures to strengthen its capital position, adding 19.4 billion francs of BIS Tier 1 capital. Beyond the investments from these two parties, UBS plans to sell treasury shares and replace its 2007 cash dividend with a stock dividend, boosting capital by 6.4 billion francs.

UBS said that it was writing down the value of positions related to the U.S. subprime residential mortgage market in response to continued deterioration of that market. The write-downs are primarily on collateralized debt obligations, or CDOs, and "super senior" holdings, UBS said. At the end of September, UBS subprime exposure amounted to $40 million.

"UBS is removing much of the uncertainty with this step," said Dirk Becker, banking analyst with broker Kepler Landesbanki, who has a buy rating on the stock. He welcomed that UBS was taking one big write-down rather than several smaller ones over coming quarters, but cautioned that it remains to be seen if this enough.

"In the last several months, continued speculation about the ultimate value of our subprime holdings -- which remains unknowable -- has been distracting," Chief Executive Marcel Rohner said in a statement. "In our judgment, these write-downs will create maximum clarity on this issue and will have the effect of substantially eliminating speculation."

UBS is Europe's fourth-largest bank by market capitalization. Its shares closed Friday at 57.20 francs. The bank's stock has dropped 24% so far this year, underperforming the European sector average as measured by the FTSE Banks Index, which is flat.

Cross-town rival Credit Suisse, which is less affected by the subprime crisis than many of its rivals, declined to comment whether it planned more write-downs. At an investor conference in mid-November in New York, Paul Calello, Credit Suisse's Investment Banking CEO had said that the bank's exposure to subprime was limited.