A strong rebound in equity underwriting and trading and growth in fixed income helped UBS more than double its pre-tax investment banking profits to a record Sfr1.67bn (€1.1bn) in the first quarter of 2004.

The investment banking business, which is headed by John Costas, chairman and chief executive, saw profits climb from Sfr777m in the first quarter of 2003. The latest figures were 40% better than the Swiss banking group's previous record of Sfr1.2bn posted in the final quarter of last year.