GENEVA: Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse said on Wednesday its first quarter net profit took a heavy hit as its investment bank reeled from slumping trading in bonds.

The bank, the second-biggest in Switzerland after UBS, is facing a US probe over past practices of helping wealthy Americans dodge the US taxman.

It said its net profit plunged by 34 per cent year-on-year to 859 million Swiss francs (705m euros).

This number fell far short of the expectations of analysts polled by the AWP financial news agency, who had anticipated that Credit Suisse would report a net profit of 1.08 billion during the quarter.

Credit Suisse’s struggles were largely attributed to its investment bank, which saw its pre-tax profit plummet 36pc to 827m Swiss francs, “amid challenging market conditions,” it said.