A sign hangs at the entrance of a Credit Suisse Group AG branch in Zurich, Switzerland, on Sunday, September 25, 2022. Inflation in Switzerland has doubled since the start of the year. The Secretary of State for Economic Affairs expects it to come. A three-decade high of 3% in 2022. Photographer: Pascal Mora/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Good pictures
Troubled bank Credit Suisse offered to buy back 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.03 billion) in bonds on Friday as it faced a falling share price and increased bets against its debt.
According to reports on Thursday, the Swiss lender is also looking to sell its iconic Savoy Hotel in Zurich’s financial district, prompting market speculation that it could spur liquidity.
In a statement on Friday regarding the bond repurchase offer, Credit Suisse said: “The transactions are consistent with our proactive approach to managing our overall liability mix and optimizing interest expense, and allow us to take advantage of market conditions to refinance debt at attractive rates.”
It comes after Credit Suisse’s shares briefly hit an all-time low earlier this week and debt default swaps hit a record high amid market jitters over its future.
A stranded lender Undertakes a massive strategic review After various scandals under a new CEO Risk management failuresand will provide a progress update with its quarterly earnings on October 27.
The bank’s $5 billion sale to hedge fund Archegos in March 2021 was the most expensive of the scandals exposed. Credit Suisse has reshuffled its management team, halted share buybacks and cut its dividend to improve its future prospects.
Shares closed at 4.22 Swiss francs on Thursday. They are down more than 50% year to date.
On Friday, the bank announced an out-of-the-money tender offer of eight euro- or sterling-denominated senior bonds worth 1 billion euros ($980 million), as well as 12 bonds worth $2 billion. The offers on the debentures will expire on November 3 and November 10 respectively.
This is an important message and will be updated soon.
