Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB), the investment banking arm of Credit Suisse group, returned to profit last year and has pledged to improve its place in the mergers and acquisition league tables.

CSFB reported a sharp turnaround in fortunes last year from a loss of Sfr1.8bn (€1.1bn) to a net profit of Sfr1.2bn. However overall group results disappointed the market and the shares fell more than 4%.