UBS stocks sink after analyst report

"Further write-downs appear likely and could be large," Daniel Davies of Credit Suisse wrote in a research note.

Shares of UBS AG fell to the lowest level in nearly five years after an analyst at Credit Suisse Group said the company faces further write-downs from “troubled” assets, according to a Bloomberg report.
“Further write-downs appear likely and could be large,” analyst Daniel Davies said yesterday in a research note.
“Taking more pessimistic assumptions” to estimate what losses would be incurred if UBS sold “the problem portfolio.”
He added that write-downs at Zurich, Switzerland-based UBS may total 15.5 francs ($15 billion).
Credit Suisse also cut UBS’s 2008 earnings per share price estimate 37% to 3.31 francs.
Excluding write-downs, the 2008 earnings estimate was cut by 5%, Credit Suisse said.
Shares of UBS fell 4.1% and closed down 3.3%, to 33.22 francs yesterday, the lowest level since May 2003.
The loss extended its 2008 decline to 37% compared with a 25% drop by rival Credit Suisse.