ZURICH (Reuters) – UBS will close 85 branches in Switzerland jointly administered with Credit Suisse by 2025, as part of the acquisition of its former rival, a local daily reported on Friday.
The closures will affect branches of UBS and Credit Suisse which are “in immediate proximity”, according to the Aargauer Zeitung, which adds that a pilot phase of this process will begin in April.
During an earnings conference call in February, Sergio Ermotti, UBS’s chief executive, said removing branch duplication was part of the bank’s plan to cut costs at the combined business.
A UBS spokesperson said the group currently has around 190 branches in Switzerland, compared to 95 for Credit Suisse.
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At the end of the process, UBS would continue to cover the same locations that both banks currently administer, but the combined total number of branches would decrease by around a third, the spokesperson said.
UBS shares advanced 4% on the Zurich Stock Exchange in the morning. Morgan Stanley also raised its recommendation for UBS to “overweight” on Friday.
The bank is in the process of absorbing the activities of Credit Suisse, which it bought in 2023 following the group’s collapse due to a series of financial problems.
(Reporting by Oliver Hirt, French version by Alban Kacher, editing by Kate Entringer)
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