ZURICH, Switzerland, Feb 9, 2010 (AFP) - Troubled Swiss bank UBS said Tuesday that it had returned a 1.20 billion Swiss franc profit (1.12 billion dollars, 821 million euros) in the final quarter of 2009, shrugging off more than a year of quarterly losses.

The turnaround in the final three months of the year helped the bank to cut its annual net loss to 2.73 billion francs last year, compared with 21.29 billion francs at the height of the financial crisis in 2008, UBS said in a statement.

However, the Swiss banking flagship, which also faced bruising litigation over client tax fraud in the United States, indicated that it was still losing money from clients.

Net new money outflows totalled 56.2 billion Swiss francs from wealth and asset management divisions.

In a letter to shareholders, UBS's fresh management team termed that trend "disappointing," despite the sharp improvement in the bank's overall profitability.

"We entered 2009 at the height of the crisis. By the end of 2009 UBS has returned to profitability, delivering on its priorities," chief executive Oswald Gruebel said.

"We expect that our return to profitability will increase clients' confidence in UBS and restore our reputation," he added.

The fourth quarter result outstripped a poll of analysts' expectations by Swiss financial news agency AWP, which had expected a net profit of 374 million Swiss francs (S$497 million).