ZURICH: Loss-making Swiss banking giant UBS said Tuesday that it was targeting pre-tax annual profits of about 15 billion francs (9.9 billion euros, 14.9 billion dollars) in three to five years.

"The continuing transformation of UBS and the execution of the business strategies presented to investors will enable UBS to meet specific goals over the medium term (three to five years)," said the bank in a statement issued for its investors day.

"UBS aims to achieve: approximately 15 billion Swiss francs of annual profit before tax; a cost-to-income ratio of 65-70 percent; and a return-on-equity of 15-20 percent," it added.

The bank posted an operating profit before tax of 15 billion francs in 2006. Since then it has made annual losses due to the US subprime mortgage crisis and the resulting financial and economic turmoil.

For the first nine months of this year, it has lost 3.9 billion francs.

Outlining its strategy to investors, UBS said it planned to "strengthen its position as the number one bank" for wealthy clients as well as remain the "number one bank in Switzerland."

"The transformation we are undertaking is a fundamental one and it will not happen quickly. I am determined, however, that we build a firm for sustainable profit and not one to focus only on short-term expectations," said Oswald Gruebel, the bank's chief executive.