Swiss bank UBS AG announced Tuesday it would cut 5,500 jobs and reported a net loss of 11.5 billion Swiss francs ($10.97 billion) for the first quarter of this year.This compares with a net profit of 3 billion francs in the same period last year. The losses translate to 5.63 francs ($5.35) per share, compared with earnings per share of 1.43 francs in the first quarter of 2007.

The bank warned investors last month to expect net losses of 12 billion Swiss francs ($11.42 billion) for the first three months of the year after writing down about $19 billion on U.S. real estate and related credit positions in the period.

Switzerland's largest bank said it will cut 2,600 jobs in its investment banking arm — blamed for the majority of failures that led to a record writedowns of $37.4 billion since last summer. A further 2,900 jobs will be slashed in other parts of the business, bringing the total number of job cuts by mid-2009 to 5,500.



UBS has been struggling to regain investor confidence since posting a series of heavy losses that prompted shareholders to demand radical action to turn the business around.

Last month, shareholders approved the appointment of a new chairman and a capital increase of 15 billion francs ($14.9 billion) in the hope of turning the page on the bank's historic loss. It was the second capital hike after UBS raised 13 billion francs from two foreign sovereign wealth funds earlier this year.

On Tuesday, UBS said it has reduced its exposure to subprime-related assets by 60 percent since the third quarter of last year.

"We can see tangible effects as a result of our initial responses to the losses," CEO Marcel Rohner said in a statement. "While our exposure is still subject to swings in market conditions, we see market demand for these securities returning in certain areas and at the current level of valuations."

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