UBS’s investment bank would have made a loss in 2011 had it not been for accountancy gains on its own credit, following a tough year for the Swiss bank that included a trading scandal and a decision to retrench from some business lines.

The investment bank this morning reported a Sfr256m ($278.2m) pre-tax loss in the fourth quarter, compared with a Sfr650m loss three months earlier. Third-quarter performance had been dented by a Sfr1.8bn charge related to unauthorised trading, although the hit was largely offset by fair-value own credit gains that were largely absent in the fourth-quarter results.