ZURICH: Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse posted Thursday a third consecutive quarterly profit of 2.4 billion Swiss francs, a 50 percent jump on the previous quarter that largely beat analyst forecasts.

The profits, equivalent to 1.6 billion euros or 2.4 billion dollars, were significantly higher than the 1.7 billion francs forecasted by analysts polled by Swiss financial wire AWP.

They also marked a sharp turnaround from the 1.3 billion francs loss incurred by the bank in the third quarter of 2008, when it was mired in the financial crisis.

Fresh deposits were also flowing into the bank, with net new assets rising to 16.7 billion francs during the third quarter, compared to just 3.6 billion francs during the same period last year.

The bank's chief executive officer Brady Dougan said he was "confident about our business model and our competitive position."

"If markets remain constructive, we expect to be able to maintain our momentum. Even if markets become more difficult, we believe thatCredit Suisse is still positioned to perform well."

Credit Suisse has been hurt by the financial crisis and said in December it would slash 5,300 jobs in a bid to cut costs.

However, it ended a losing streak this year and even its investment bank unit, which was blamed for incurring massive losses during the financial crisis, has been profitable for three consecutive quarters.