The new staff cuts are on top of 2,000 the bank announced in July, bringing the total to roughly 3,500. The bank raised its cost savings target to 2 billion Swiss francs ($2.3 billion), saying the full effect will kick in during 2014.
The moves come as Chief Executive Brady Dougan predicts that the outlook for the banking industry remains tough.
"We believe subdued economic growth and the low interest-rate environment and increased regulation that we are seeing may persist for an extended period," he said at a media conference. "We may well continue to see low levels of client activity and a volatile trading environment."
The Zurich-based bank reported that net profit rose to 683 million Swiss francs ($758 million) for the three months ended Sept. 30, from 609 million francs a year earlier, falling short of analysts' estimates of 1.08 billion francs.
Net profit was boosted by a 1.29 billion francs gain on the bank's own credit, an accounting move that allows banks to record a gain on their own debt when business prospects deteriorate because it is theoretically cheaper to buy such credit back. Third quarter earnings at Deutsche Bank and UBS AG were also flattered by this factor.
The franc's surge to near parity with the euro in August helped wipe 277 million francs off Credit Suisse's third-quarter pretax income, though the Swiss central bank's decision to cap the franc against the euro in September meant the impact was smaller than in the previous three months. The franc gained around 9% against both the euro and dollar in the year through September.
A number of special items further distorted net profit. They included 291 million francs in restructuring charges and a 478 million-francs provision for litigation in connection with U.S. and German tax matters, as well as 90 million francs for the U.K. bank levy.
The dismal securities market hit Credit Suisse's trading activities hard during the third quarter, with revenue at the investment bank falling 27% to 2.49 billion francs, resulting in a pre-tax loss of 190 million francs.
The hit was hardest at its fixed-income, currencies and commodities unit, known as FICC, where revenue almost halved from a year earlier as clients were reluctant to do business during the quarter's volatile market and as credit spreads widened. The only exception was trading in foreign exchange and rates, where the bank saw more client flows as a result of the market's wild swings.
The fixed-income business is very capital intensive, rendering it tough to make it profitable under stricter banking regulations. Credit Suisse is taking the consequences, planning to cut risk-weighted assets in fixed income by half by 2014 and redeploying capital and resources to growth businesses.
Credit Suisse and local rival UBS are subject to Swiss banking regulation, which requires them to reach regulatory capital ratios significantly above those for banks in other European countries. At the end of September, Credit Suisse's core capital ratio was 10% under Basel 2.5, and 17.7% under Basel II.
By late morning, Credit Suisse's shares were down 7.2%, the fall exacerbated by new concern over Greece's sovereign debt problem.
read more: Olympus Wealth Management
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