Shares of UBS rose on Tuesday to their highest since the Swiss government came to its rescue in October 2008 after profit almost doubled in the first quarter. The bank's net income was 1.98 billion Swiss francs, above the 1.22 billion francs average estimate of seven analysts in a survey as all of its key divisions beat forecasts. "UBS blew away expectations," Dirk Becker, an analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux in Frankfurt, said in a note. "This was a comprehensive earnings beat by anyone's standards." Chief executive Sergio Ermotti, who reorganised the bank to shrink the securities unit and focus on wealth management, is improving returns by cutting costs while litigation expenses persist. The bank attracted 14.4 billion francs in new funds at the main money management unit, topping estimates after a weak fourth quarter. Return on tangible equity - a measure of profitability - amounted to about 14 per cent in the quarter, above its target of 10 per cent for the year. "The bank had a good quarter all around," said Alevizos Alevizakos, an analyst at Keefe Bruyette & Woods in London. "Revenues were strong and UBS exercised good cost control." UBS rose as much as 7.9 per cent, the biggest gain in two years, and traded 6.5 per cent higher at 20.28 francs in early afternoon activity, valuing the bank at about 78 billion francs. It said in its quarterly report discussions with the United States Justice Department about a settlement for attempting to rig currency markets were at an "advanced stage". No agreement on the form of the resolution had been reached, it said. UBS was among a group of banks that might have to pay about US$1 billion to settle with the US Justice Department for attempting to rig currency markets, sources said in March. The bank was ordered in November last year to pay about US$800 million by regulators in the US, Britain and Switzerland in related separate probes. Other investigating authorities might seek to conclude similar resolutions in the near future, UBS said. It said its provisions were "adequate" to meet the anticipated cost of resolutions. The bank took a provision of 1.84 billion francs in the third quarter of last year. It added 176 million francs in litigation provisions in the fourth quarter and a further 134 million francs when it published its annual report in March, after settling a US lawsuit related to currency rigging. The bank booked provisions of 58 million francs in the first quarter of this year. Wealth management pretax profit rose 54 per cent to 951 million francs, beating the 699 million francs estimated by analysts. Global asset management earned 168 million francs.