UBS reported quarterly results that fell short of forecasts on Wednesday.
The Swiss bank turned in a net profit of 827 million Swiss francs ($910 million) for its first quarter, short of the 1.11 billion Swiss francs that were expected by analysts who follow the company, according to a poll from Reuters.
UBS said it is on track to hit its goal of finding 2 billion Swiss francs in savings by the end of 2013.
The Swiss bank struck a cautious second-quarter outlook, saying economic worries rattling wealthy clients such as the eurozone debt crisis, concern over Europe's banks, and the U.S. deficit are likely to take a toll.
"Failure to make progress on these key issues would make further improvements in prevailing market conditions unlikely and would have the potential to continue the headwinds for revenue growth, net interest margins and net new money," UBS said in a statement.
Nevertheless, the bank voiced confidence its flagship private banking arm would still attract fresh assets, a key bellwether for future revenue.
UBS announced in November it would scale back its investment bank business to focus on its flagship private bank.
Including one-time charges, UBS said profit more than halved amid a 1.16 billion Swiss franc ($1.28 billion) hit to profits due to charges on its debt.
The bank cut risk-weighted assets by roughly 30 billion Swiss francs in the quarter, putting it ahead of its reduction target for this year.
Net profit fell to 827 million Swiss francs from 1.807 billion a year earlier. Analysts called for net profit of 1.11 billion Swiss francs in a Reuters poll.
Last week, Credit Suisse eked out a for the quarter amid a better-than-expected showing from its fixed income division.
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