GENEVA: Swiss bank UBS AG reported a smaller-than-expected 18 percent drop in first-quarter net profit Tuesday as the strength of the Swiss franc ate into overseas profits, and said customer money inflows had improved. Net profit dropped to 1.81 billion francs ($2.05 billion) from 2.2 billion francs a year earlier, while operating income fell 7 percent to 8.34 billion francs. UBS, which does much of its business outside Switzerland, said the US dollar was worth about 15 percent less during the first three months of the year compared with the same period in 2010. “We'll continue to see that effect for some time,” John Cryan, the bank's chief financial officer, told reporters. The year-on-year difference in April was about 20 percent, he added. The results beat analyst expectations for even lower earnings in the first quarter, as year-ago profits were boosted by exceptional factors. This, together with healthy inflows of customer money everywhere except Europe, lifted UBS shares 5.6 percent to 17.52 francs ($19.96) on the Zurich exchange. Net new money – an important indicator of future business – increased by 22.3 billion francs.