WASHINGTON - Credit Suisse First Boston Corp. does not plan to make any massive layoffs but has not ruled out minor reductions this year, its chief financial officer said Tuesday.
"While not anticipating any future across-the-board cuts, we remain committed to being appropriately sized for the environment," Barbara Yastine told analysts on a conference call after its parent reported its first quarterly profit in a year. The Zurich-based Credit Suisse Group said it earned $485 million, 77% more than it did a year earlier, even though revenues fell 16%.
CSFB was also able to deliver better profit news on Tuesday than it has in a while. It produced a net profit of $161 million in the first quarter, its strongest results since the second quarter of 2001.
Like many U.S. investment banking firms, its fixed-income business buoyed profits in the face of a continued rout in the equities markets and merger and acquisition activity.
CSFB cut its staff by 18% during the quarter, mostly by removing 3,913 Pershing employees from its payroll as a result of the deal to sell the clearing unit to Bank of New York Co. Another 300 jobs were also eliminated in the period.
Wall Street firms have been eliminating positions because of the slump in business, and, like many of its peers, CSFB reported a decline in equity income.
Fixed-income operating income rose 7% from the first quarter of 2002, to $1.4 billion, but equity operating income fell 29.5%, to $602 million, and income from investment banking operations fell 26%, to $545 million. Analysts have questioned the sustainability of the boom in fixed-income trading and underwriting. [
