Credit Suisse on Thursday posted a net profit of two billion Swiss francs ($1.71 billion), twice as much as expected by analysts, and said it remained optimistic about its prospects.

Switzerland's second-largest bank beat forecast thanks to a strong performance at its investment banking and wealth management units.

'We remain optimisitc about the prospects for Credit Suisse, particularly in the context of the overall industry,' chief executive Brady Dougan said in a statement.

The bank continued to cut risky positions and was able to boost its already strong capital base to a Tier 1 ratio of 14.1 percent.

News that Switzerland's second-largest bank had swung back to profit after record annual losses in 2008 was expected to boost optimism about the banking sector sparked by a set of forecast-beating first-quarter results from U.S. banks such as Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected Credit Suisse to post net profit of 948 million Swiss francs.

Credit Suisse's net profit comes in contrast with a forecast of a 2 billion franc loss in the first quarter by larger Swiss competitor UBS, which has been hit hard in the crisis and is still struggling to recover.

Contrary to UBS, Credit Suisse has managed to survive the crisis without government aid and was able to raise 10 billion Swiss francs from investors in the last quarter of 2008 to boost its capital base.

Credit Suisse posted its biggest ever loss, 8.2 billion francs, in 2008 but has said it had a strong start to 2009. – Reuters