Investment bank slump tips C.Suisse to Q4 loss

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"We wonder when Credit Suisse will start to generate and surprise us," JPMorgan analyst Kian Abouhossein said. "We feel Credit Suisse is six to 12 months behind UBS in restructuring."

The bank said the charge of 981 million francs was due to the accelerated implementation of a risk reduction plan, steps to exit unprofitable businesses and expenses due to the rapid execution of cost cutting programs.

The charge pushed Credit Suisse into a quarterly net loss of 637 million francs -- its first quarterly loss in three years -- missing average analyst expectations for a profit of 430 million. Credit Suisse also proposed nearly halving its dividend to 0.75 Swiss francs per share, from 1.30 francs in 2010.

Other investment banks like UBS , Goldman Sachs , JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank have also reported a poor fourth quarter as clients stopped doing deals and pulled back from markets due to the euro zone debt crisis.

CUTTING RISK, COSTS

In preparing for stricter capital regulation, investment banks are often taking losses as they exit riskier business lines. Credit Suisse is leaving commercial mortgage-backed securities issuing and slashing areas such as long-dated interest rates and emerging market currency trading.

Dougan said Credit Suisse would meet a goal to cut risky assets by 80 billion francs in the first quarter, compared with its original target of the end of 2012. The bank will exceed the target for the year-end by $39 billion.

The bank also said it was on track to cut costs by 2 billion francs by the end of next year. It said its total bonus pool would drop 41 percent to 3 billion francs, from 5 billion in 2010.

Credit Suisse finished the year with 20,900 investment bankers, 200 more than a year ago, and far more than Deutsche Bank's 15,184. At the same time, Credit Suisse lagged Deutsche in fixed income and equities league table rankings, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters.