Credit Suisse said the income of its private bank held broadly steady, while it continued to log fresh client inflows. Results were, as for other Swiss banks, affected by the strong Swiss franc exchange rate.

Credit Suisse said today its pre-tax income held broadly steady, slipping by 4 per cent to SFr824 million (around $857 million) in the final three months of 2010 compared with the same period a year ago, but revenues rose between the fourth and third quarters by 3 per cent to SFr2.941 billion.

The rise in revenues was driven by 10 per cent higher transaction-based revenues, mainly caused by recovery from the particularly low client activity in the third quarter of 2010. Total operating expenses were SFr2.086 billion, a rise of 4 per cent between the fourth and third quarters of last year.

The private banking segment comprises the wealth management client and corporate and institutional client business divisions.

The results were affected by the weakening of the average rate of the dollar and euro against the Swiss franc, the bank said in a statement.

Credit Suisse is the third of the top-rank Swiss banks to have reported results, with Julius Baer and UBS having issued figures earlier in the week. In the case of UBS, the country’s biggest bank, it swung back into profit with most of its wealth divisions reporting a profit, apart from the Americas arm. As for Credit Suisse, the overall group posted net income attributable to shareholders of SFr5.098 billion for 2010, a 24 per cent drop on the year before; however, its net income in the fourth quarter, at SFr841 million, represented a rise of 38 per cent from the previous three months.

“Private banking has shown strong net new asset inflows and our success in attracting client assets underscores our strong value proposition and the trust that clients place in us. Among the world’s wealth management firms, our private bank has an unparalleled competitive position in regard to net new asset generation, profitability and client satisfaction,” Brady Dougan, chief executive, said.

The Zurich-listed bank said its BIS capital ratio stood at 17.2 per cent, unchanged from the third quarter of 2010.

Credit Suisse said its wealth management clients business reported income before taxes of SFr606 million in the fourth quarter of 2010, which was “almost stable” compared to the third quarter of last year, as a 3 per cent rise in net revenues, which mainly reflected higher transaction-based revenues, was more than offset by a 4 per cent increase in total operating expenses.

The private banking division logged SFr54.6 billion of net new assets last year, compared to SFr41.6 billion in 2009, up 31.3 per cent. In the fourth quarter, private banking recorded strong, but seasonally lower net new assets of SFr9.6 billion.

Asset management reported net new assets of SFr4.5 billion in the fourth quarter, including net inflows of SFr3.6 billion in alternative investments, primarily in real estate, exchange-traded funds, and credit strategies, and net inflows of SFr900 million in traditional investments, as inflows in Swiss advisory and fixed income products were partially offset by outflows in multi-asset class solutions.

Credit Suisse Group’s total assets under management were SFr1.253 trillion at the end of last year, up 2 per cent on a year before.