UBS’s profits were down 26 percent year-on-year for the first quarter of 2019, with the Swiss bank attributing this decline to a “very strong” Q1 2018 in comparison.

The Global Wealth Management business reported pre-tax profit of $863 million (all figures in USD) down 22 percent from $1.1 billion in 2018.

The wealth division managed to decrease its operating costs six percent to $3.1 billion, largely due to an absence of restructuring costs compared to last year.

Wealth management recurring fee income decreased on lower average invested assets, while transaction-based revenues declined on lower client a...