Pre-tax profits at the Americas wealth management business of UBS slipped only slightly in the third quarter, but net new money flows improved.

UBS said pre-tax profits at its Americas wealth management business slipped a touch in the third quarter of this year but overall its results in the region held steady, while pre-tax profits for the Zurich-listed bank as a whole were hit by unauthorized trading, as expected.

Wealth Management Americas’ pre-tax profit fell 1 per cent to SFr139 million from SFr140 million, UBS said in a statement today. The pre-tax profit at the wealth management arm of UBS rose to SFr888 million (around $1.0 billion) in the third quarter of 2011, compared with SFr672 million in the previous three months.

Within the Americas business, operating income increased 1 per cent to SFr1.294 billion from SFr1.284 billion as a result of higher net interest and trading income as well as an increase in realised gains on the sale of securities held as available-for-sale. These effects were partly offset by lower transaction-based revenues resulting from lower client activity. Third quarter net new money was SFr4.0 billion compared with SFr2.6 billion in the second quarter.

Financial advisors employed with UBS for more than one year and net recruiting of financial advisors contributed to the improvement in net new money in the Americas. The gross margin on invested assets in Swiss franc terms increased by 4 basis points to 80 basis points, as income increased 1 per cent compared with a 4 per cent decline in average invested assets.

Since the $2.3 billion trading loss at the investment bank was revealed over a month ago, UBS has seen the departure of its chief executive, Oswald Grübel, who was replaced on an interim basis by Sergio Ermotti.

In a separate statement today, UBS reconfirmed the reliability of financial statements included in its 2010 annual report, stating that the financial impact of the unauthorized trading activity that rocked the bank has been “fully reflected” in the third-quarter financial report figures.

Net profit attributable to UBS shareholders across all business lines stood at SFr1.018 billion, compared with SFr1.015 billion in the second quarter of 2011. Pre-tax profit declined by SFr674 million to SFr980 million. “This was mainly due to the trading income loss of SFr1.849 billion related to the unauthorised trading incident, lower revenues in the investment bank, and total restructuring charges of SFr387 million,” UBS said. However, “this was partly offset by an own credit gain of SFr1.765 billion and a gain of SFr722 million from the sale of treasury-related investments”, it added.

For the entire Swiss banking group, it reported a BIS Tier 1 ratio of 18.4 per cent.

At the investment bank, which was at the centre of the “rogue trader” drama, this business logged a pre-tax loss of SFr650 million compared with a loss of SFr406 million in the third quarter of 2010. The pre-tax loss, excluding own credit gains of SFr1.765 billion and a trading income loss relating to the unauthorised trading incident of SFr1.849 billion, was SFr566 million compared with a loss, excluding the own credit gain, of SFr19 million in the third quarter of 2010.