Todd Tuckner
Analyst · Goldman Sachs
Thank you, Sarah, and good morning, everyone. Disciplined execution in the fourth quarter underpinned a strong year of financial performance as we continue to progress towards our post-integration profitability targets. In the quarter, we delivered reported net profit of $1.2 billion and earnings per share of $0.37, while group invested assets exceeded $7 trillion. Underlying pretax profit was $2.9 billion, up 62% year-over-year as continued revenue momentum in our core franchises and cost discipline across the group resulted in 9 percentage points of positive jaws. Total revenues increased 10% versus the prior year, driven primarily by strong top line growth in both Global Wealth Management and the Investment Bank, as we leveraged our competitive strengths and unrivaled geographic footprint to capture opportunities in broadly constructive market conditions. We delivered a further $700 million in gross cost saves, reflecting steady progress in decommissioning technology, integrating functions and reducing third-party spend. Total operating expenses were 1% higher with realized synergies largely offset by higher variable compensation accruals on the back of stronger revenues. Excluding litigation, variable compensation and currency effects, costs declined 7%. Taken together, sustained execution, combined with disciplined cost and balance sheet management drove further improvement in our underlying metrics during the quarter, including a cost-income ratio of 75% and a return on CET1 capital of 11.9%. We remain on track to deliver on our key integration milestones, including completing the Swiss Booking Client Center migrations by the end of this quarter, an important enabler to achieve the remainder of our cost savings through the end of 2026. Moving to Slide 4. With underlying pretax profit growth across our businesses, we closed the year on a strong note and sustained the consistent performance delivered throughout 2025. This quarter, we once again leveraged the strength of our business model, powered by our international scale, deep client connectivity and differentiated capabilities to help clients navigate an environment marked by complexity and unpredictability. On a reported basis, revenues included net negative adjustments of $54 million, primarily reflecting a net loss of $457 million from the November buyback of $8.5 billion of legacy Credit Suisse debt instruments that were issued at distressed spreads prior to the acquisition, offset by other merger-related PPA adjustments. Buying back this expensive legacy debt early and replacing it with low-cost funding is not only NPV accretive, but will also benefit the net interest income of GWM and P&C in the coming years and reduce the net funding drag in NCL. Integration-related expenses were $1.1 billion, reflecting the continued high intensity of the Swiss client account migration and ongoing work across the group to deliver key integration milestones. The effective tax rate in the quarter was 29% and 12% for the full year 2025. Turning to our balance sheet on Slide 5. As of year-end, our balance sheet for all seasons consisted of $1.6 trillion in total assets, down $15 billion versus the end of the third quarter, primarily reflecting the liability management exercise just mentioned and net redemptions of other long-term debt. Credit impaired exposures remained stable quarter-on-quarter at 90 basis points, while the annualized cost of risk was 9 basis points, reflecting the quality and nature of our lending book. Group credit loss expense was $159 million, mainly relating to credit impaired positions in our Swiss business. Our tangible book value per share grew sequentially by 1% to $26.93, primarily from our net profit, which was partly offset by share repurchases. Overall, we continue to operate with a highly fortified and resilient balance sheet, with total loss absorbing capacity of $187 billion, a net stable funding ratio of 116% and a liquidity coverage ratio of 183%. Looking ahead, we expect our LCR to remain around this level, reflecting both the prudent buffers we have long maintained and the more stringent Swiss liquidity requirements, which were fully phased in by the end of 2024 and which are more onerous than those in other jurisdictions. Maintaining this resilience requires holding additional HQLA, and we will continue to manage the associated carry and balance sheet impact with discipline. Turning to capital on Slide 6. Our CET1 capital ratio at the end of December was 14.4%, and our CET1 leverage ratio was 4.4%, both lower sequentially and closer to our targets of around 14% and above 4%, respectively. The sequential decreases largely reflect a reduction in CET1 capital as strong operational performance was more than offset by accruals for shareholder returns of $4.1 billion. Of this amount, $3 billion relates to intended share repurchases in 2026, which we'll cover later in more detail. A further $1.1 billion relates to the full year 2025 ordinary dividend, which at $1.10 per share is up 22% on last year. CET1 capital also decreased by around $0.5 billion due to the liability management exercise. Turning to UBS AG. During the fourth quarter, the parent bank stand-alone fully applied CET1 capital ratio increased to 14.2%, up sequentially from 13.3%. This increase largely reflects $9 billion of capital upstream from subsidiaries following strong integration progress, including in further running down NCL, which enabled those entities to release surplus capital on an accelerated time line. Of the total, Credit Suisse International in the U.K. paid up around $4 billion, while around $3 billion was repatriated from the U.S. IHC. The remainder was paid by other foreign subsidiaries around the group. Collectively, these distributions increased the parent bank's equity by around $2 billion and reduced its investments in subsidiaries by around $6.5 billion, resulting in a $26 billion reduction in risk-weighted assets, driving up its capital ratio. By year-end, we expect another $3 billion of capital to be returned predominantly from UBS AG's U.K. subsidiaries as we finalize the unwinding of positions in those former Credit Suisse entities. In addition, the U.S. IHC can be expected to repatriate around $2 billion of additional capital by 2028 as it progresses back towards its pre-acquisition CET1 capital ratio. UBS AG's fourth quarter CET1 capital ratio also reflected an incremental accrual of $1 billion of dividends, bringing the full year 2025 total to $9 billion. As in 2025, the parent bank is expected to upstream half of that total during the first half of 2026 to fund group shareholder returns and has the option to distribute the second half in the latter part of the year, depending on Swiss capital framework developments. Finally, with dollar-Swiss at around current levels, we expect to continue pacing intercompany dividends to maintain prudent capital buffers and manage FX-driven headwinds on leverage ratios across group entities. As a result, we now expect UBS AG to operate with a stand-alone CET1 capital ratio of around 14% for the foreseeable future, while we still aim to maintain the group equity double leverage ratio near 100%. At the end of 2025, the group equity double leverage ratio was 104%, down 5 percentage points compared to the end of the second quarter. Turning to our business divisions and starting with Global Wealth Management on Slide 7. For the quarter, GWM delivered pretax profit of $1.6 billion, up from $1.1 billion in the prior year as revenues increased by 11%. Invested assets reached $4.8 trillion. For the full year, GWM generated pretax profits, excluding litigation, of $6.1 billion, up 23% with a cost-income ratio of 75.6%, improving by more than 3 percentage points. All 4 GWM regions grew pretax profits in 2025, with each generating around $1.5 billion, excluding litigation, underscoring the strength and diversification of the world's only truly global wealth manager. In the Americas, fourth quarter pretax profit increased by 32% with a pretax margin of 13%, up 2 percentage points year-over-year, capping a year in which profits grew by 34%. EMEA delivered pretax profit growth of 27%, supported by strong transaction-based revenues and ongoing cost discipline, driving a 19% increase for the full year. Asia Pacific sustained its strong momentum, delivering pretax profit growth of 24% in the quarter and 30% for the full year, its first following completion of the Credit Suisse client migration in 2024, reinforcing the region's significant runway for continued growth. In Switzerland, pretax profit declined 4% in the quarter amid net interest income headwinds, but increased 2% for the full year on strong growth in non-NII revenue. Moving to flows for the quarter. Net new assets were $8.5 billion, with $23 billion of inflows across EMEA, APAC and Switzerland, partially offset by outflows of $14 billion in the Americas, primarily reflecting net recruiting-related impacts. For the full year 2025, we generated net new assets of $101 billion, representing 2.4% growth. We delivered this while absorbing the expected temporary flow headwinds from strategic actions taken to support higher pretax margins and enhance our return on equity. Net new fee-generating assets were $9 billion, with APAC delivering 10% annualized growth. Mandate penetration was up for the fourth consecutive quarter with our My Way discretionary solution being a strong driver, nearly doubling invested assets year-over-year to over $30 billion. Net new deposits were broadly flat in the quarter, with an observable mix shift towards non-maturing balances supporting our deposit margin as we look forward. Net new loans were $5 billion as demand strengthened, particularly in Lombard and securities-based lending, supported by lower rates. In the Americas, loan balances grew for the seventh consecutive quarter, demonstrating continued progress in enhancing our banking platform. Moving to the revenue lines. Recurring net fee income rose 9% to $3.6 billion as fee-generating assets grew to $2.1 trillion. Transaction-based revenues were $1.2 billion, up 20%, driven by strength in structured products and cash equities. Close collaboration between GWM and the Investment Bank remains a key differentiator, enabling us to deliver tailored structured solutions at scale and deepen the value we bring to our wealth clients. Net interest income was $1.7 billion, up 3% year-on-year and 4% sequentially, reflecting higher average loan and deposit volumes as well as a more favorable deposit mix. For the first quarter, we expect a low single-digit percentage decline in NII as positive loan volume and deposit mix effects are expected to be more than offset by day count and deposit rates. For the full year, we expect GWM net interest income to increase by low single digits year-over-year, driven by strong loan growth, support from the November liability management exercise and an improved deposit mix, more than offsetting deposit margin compression in lower rate currencies. Underlying operating expenses increased 4% versus the prior year quarter, driven primarily by higher production-linked compensation. Excluding litigation, variable compensation and currency effects, costs declined 2%. Turning to Personal & Corporate Banking on Slide 8. P&C delivered fourth quarter pretax profit of CHF 543 million, down 5%, primarily due to lower interest rates weighing on net interest income, which declined 10%. This was partly offset by lower credit loss expenses and reduced operating costs. Sequentially, net interest income decreased by 2% as targeted pricing measures largely mitigated the headwinds from Switzerland's 0 rate environment. Notwithstanding that Swiss franc rates are expected to remain at current levels throughout 2026, P&C's full year NII is modeled to increase by a mid-single-digit percentage in U.S. dollars, supported by FX translation, the liability management exercise and expected loan growth. For the first quarter, we expect NII to remain broadly stable in U.S. dollar terms. Non-NII revenues were down 3%, with sustained growth in Personal Banking more than offset by lower client activity in the Corporate and Institutional segment. Credit loss expense was CHF 80 million in the quarter and CHF 277 million for the full year. Looking ahead, a mixed credit backdrop in Switzerland, reflecting a more challenging economic outlook is expected to result in quarterly credit loss expense of around CHF 75 million on average. Operating expenses in the quarter were CHF 1.1 billion, down 1%. Turning to Asset Management on Slide 9. Pretax profit increased by 20% to $268 million, driven by higher revenues and lower costs. The quarter also reflected a loss of $29 million related to the sale of the O'Connor business. Excluding the P&L from disposals, pretax profit was up 41%. As investments in our growth initiatives and platform scalability continue to take hold, we're seeing the benefits translate into sustained profitability improvement. Net new money in the quarter was positive $8 billion, led by inflows in ETFs, money market strategies and our U.S. SMAs, while invested assets reached $2.1 trillion. Full year net new money was $30 billion, representing a 1.7% growth rate, with flows reflecting product rationalization as Asset Management completed the Credit Suisse integration. In Unified Global Alternatives, net new client commitments were $9 billion, including $8 billion from GWM clients with funded invested assets now at $330 billion. Overall revenues rose 4%, driven by an 11% increase in net management fees on higher assets under management. Operating expenses declined 2%, resulting in a 66% cost-income ratio. On to Slide 10 and the Investment Bank. Pretax profit of $703 million, increased 56%, driven by 13% higher revenues. This performance capped the IB's strongest top line year on record, delivering $11.8 billion of revenue, up 18%. We achieved this result with essentially no incremental RWA, reflecting disciplined risk management and highly capital-efficient growth. For the full year, the IB's return on attributed equity was 15%. Banking revenues rose by 2% in the quarter to $687 million. Advisory grew by 2%, driven by strong performance in Switzerland and across our broader EMEA franchise. Capital Markets increased 1%, powered by ECM, which was up 68% and outperformed fee pools across all regions. We held leading roles on several transactions during the quarter, highlighting the benefits of our targeted investments in strategic sectors and products. Revenues were lower in LCM, reflecting softer sponsor activity across our client base. Moving to Global Markets. Revenues increased by 17% to $2.2 billion as we delivered our strongest fourth quarter performance on record, both globally and in every region. Equities rose 9% versus an exceptionally strong prior year quarter, driven by prime brokerage, cash equities on record market share and equity derivatives. FRC revenues increased by 46%, with FX and precious metals in particular, standing out. Our continued technology investment, combined with a highly regionally diversified platform and deep connectivity with Global Wealth Management, continues to differentiate our markets business, supporting strong client engagement and sustained momentum. Against this strong revenue performance, operating expenses increased by 6%. On Slide 11, non-core and legacy generated a pretax loss of $224 million in the quarter. Revenues were negative $10 million as funding costs of $86 million were partly offset by net revenues from position marks and disposals. Operating expenses were down by nearly 60% year-on-year, reflecting the significant progress we're making in exiting costs from the platform. Risk-weighted assets at quarter end were $29 billion or $5 billion, excluding operational risk RWAs, down $2 billion sequentially. LRD decreased by $6 billion or 25% quarter-on-quarter, ending the year at $19 billion. Moving to a short recap on our full year group performance on Slide 12. We delivered net profit of $7.8 billion, up 53% year-over-year with an underlying return on CET1 capital of 13.7%. Excluding litigation and applying a normalized tax rate, our return on CET1 capital was 11.5%. Revenues grew 8% in our core businesses and 4% overall, while costs were 2% lower as we continue to progress toward completing the Credit Suisse integration. As we look at our full year performance through a regional lens on Slide 13, the contributions across the group underscore the strength of our globally diversified model and unrivaled global connectivity. Outside of Switzerland, our anchor and most profitable region, which delivered over $5 billion in pretax profit, each region delivered strong profitability and grew at a double-digit rate year-over-year. APAC and EMEA were up over 40% with the Americas 14% higher, clear evidence that our scale, reach and disciplined integration are building a more balanced earnings profile that positions us well to perform through the cycle and to capitalize on growth opportunities where they're strongest. With that, I hand over to Sergio for the investor update.