Signage hangs over the doorway of a Credit Suisse Group AG branch in Zurich, Switzerland, on Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022. Inflation in Switzerland has greater than doubled because the start of the yr and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs expects it to are available in at a three-decade-high of three% for 2022. Photographer: Pascal Mora/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Troubled bank Credit Suisse offered to purchase back as much as 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.03 billion) of debt securities Friday, because it navigates a plunging share price and an increase in bets against its debt.
The Swiss lender also confirmed that it’s selling its famous Savoy Hotel in Zurich’s financial district, prompting some speculation that it’s scrambling for liquidity.
In an announcement Friday regarding the offer to repurchase debt securities, Credit Suisse said: “The transactions are consistent with our proactive approach to managing our overall liability composition and optimizing interest expense and permit us to reap the benefits of market conditions to repurchase debt at attractive prices.”
It comes after Credit Suisse’s shares briefly hit an all-time low earlier this week, and credit default swaps hit a record high, amid market’s skittishness over its future.
The embattled lender is embarking on a large strategic review under a latest CEO after a string of scandals and risk management failures, and can give a progress update alongside its quarterly earnings on Oct. 27.
The costliest of the scandals was the bank’s $5 billion exposure to hedge fund Archegos, which collapsed in March 2021. Credit Suisse has since overhauled its management team, suspended share buybacks and cut its dividend because it looks to shore up its future.
Shares closed at 4.22 Swiss francs on Thursday. They’re down over 50% yr thus far.
On Friday, the bank announced a money tender offer regarding eight euro or sterling-denominated senior debt securities, price as much as 1 billion euros ($980 million), together with 12 U.S. dollar-denominated securities price as much as $2 billion. The offers on the debt securities will expire by Nov. 3 and Nov. 10, respectively.
