Credit Suisse Group AG, Switzerland's biggest bank by market value, had a "strong start" to the year, after reporting a fourth straight quarterly profit in the final three months of 2009.

"We are confident about our prospects for 2010," Chief Executive Officer Brady Dougan said in a statement today. "We have had a strong start to the quarter with strong client activity. Our transaction pipelines and net new asset inflows are the best we have seen since the crisis."

Credit Suisse rose as much as 3.1 percent in Swiss trading after reporting record trading revenue in 2009, benefiting from the low interest rates that also lifted earnings at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG. Revenue from trading bonds and stocks fell in the fourth quarter from the third, hurt by lower client activity, the bank said.

Net income amounted to 793 million Swiss francs ($746 million) in the fourth quarter, compared with a loss of 6.02 billion francs a year earlier and the 1.28 billion-franc median estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Credit Suisse rose 1.19 francs, or 2.6 percent, to 47.30 francs by 9:23 a.m. The shares are down 4 percent this year, compared with a decline of 7.8 percent in the 52-company Bloomberg Europe Banks and Financial Services Index.

Earnings in the fourth quarter were hurt by a $536 million charge to settle claims the bank helped process payments that let Iran and other nations avoid government sanctions and gain access to U.S. financial markets.

Eoin Treacy's view The credit crisis demonstrated how faulty the business model is where risk is downplayed in favour of leverage. Companies which relied most heavily on leverage have either gone bust or required massive bailouts. Banks better supported by a relatively sound deposit base or with less involvement in credit derivatives have rebounded faster. While neither Credit Suisse nor UBS is a top performing share, particularly since October, the difference between the chart patterns is marked and is a Swiss example of the dichotomy evident in global banking sectors.

Credit Suisse lost downward momentum from November 2008, in the region of the 2002/2003 lows and broke upwards from its four-month base in March 2009. It rallied consistently to CHF60 by October and has since pulled back below the 200-day moving average. It has steadied somewhat this week but needs to sustain a move back above CHF50 to indicate that demand is regaining dominance.

UBS also lost momentum from November 2008 but has so far failed to sustain a breakout from the ongoing base formation. Prices are now testing the July low near CHF12.5 and an upward dynamic is required to suggest anything other than temporary steadying in this area.