Credit Suisse first-quarter rises, says on track for 2013 cash dividend

Credit Suisse said on Wednesday first-quarter net profit rose on the year due in part to its investment bank, and flagged a cash dividend.

The Swiss bank's net profit of 1.303 billion Swiss francs ($1.38 billion) from 44 million year-ago beat analyst expectations, which averaged 1.255 billion francs in a Reuters poll.

The profit rise was so sharp largely because Credit Suisse booked 1.5 billion francs in own debt charges against the year-ago quarter.

"We are on track to exceed our look-through Swiss core capital ratio target of 10 percent during the middle of this year and have begun to accrue for cash dividends in respect of our 2013 earnings," Chief Executive Brady Dougan said in a statement.

(Reporting By Katharina Bart)