Credit Suisse Group AG is in the early stages of considering its options to strengthen capital, Reuters reported, citing two people with knowledge of the matter.
The size of the increase would likely exceed 1 billion Swiss francs, but this has not yet been determined, one of the people told Reuters. A sale of a unit, such as the asset management business, is a possibility, another person told the news outlet.
“Credit Suisse is currently not considering raising additional equity capital,” the bank said in a statement to Reuters.
The Swiss bank has set out a target of reaching a 14% common equity Tier 1 ratio and a 4.5% CET1 leverage ratio by 2024. Those figures stood at 13.8% and 4.3%, respectively, at the end of the first quarter.
“If confirmed, the news could point to more pain ahead than currently expected,” Jefferies analyst Flora Bocahut said in a note to investors. “Credit Suisse has many problems, but, at this stage, capital, though it declined in the first quarter and should continue to decline this year in our forecasts, is still largely above minimum.”
Credit Suisse declined as much as 3.4% in Zurich and was trading 2.9% lower as of 9:57 a.m.
