Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Credit Suisse Group, Switzerland's second-biggest bank, said plans to merge its First Boston securities unit with the rest of the banking business will add 1 billion Swiss francs ($760 million) to annual earnings.

Revenue gains from improved cooperation among the company's three main divisions and savings from combining computer networks, trading platforms, purchasing and real estate will boost profit in 2008, the Zurich-based bank said in a statement today.

Chief Executive Officer Oswald Gruebel in June announced plans to drop the 73-year-old First Boston name as the company aligns the securities unit more closely with the private banking business, which accounts for more than a third of earnings. Credit Suisse's shares have trailed competitors in the past five years and the bank's profitability still lags behind Wall Street rivals.

Credit Suisse said it expects total pretax savings of 600 million francs in 2008 and sees ``gross revenue synergies'' of 1.2 billion francs, depending on market conditions. The gains will be offset by costs of 520 million francs, resulting in additional pretax earnings of about 1.3 billion francs or 1 billion francs after tax. Pretax savings in 2007 will be about 250 million francs.

Shares of Credit Suisse rose 85 centimes, or 1.2 percent, to 69.35 francs at 11:52 a.m. in Zurich. The shares are up 45 percent this year and increased 7 percent in the past four trading days.

The focus on private banking, asset management and investment banking will enable Credit Suisse to ``foster cooperation among businesses to capture both revenue growth and cost savings synergies,'' the bank said in the statement, published before Gruebel, 62, updates investors on the plan today in London.

Credit Suisse's return on equity, a measure of profitability, increased to 20.1 percent in the third quarter from 15.3 percent a year ago. The return still trails that of UBS, Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

Operating expenses in Credit Suisse's main institutional securities division rose faster than revenue in the first nine months, climbing 18 percent to 10.3 billion francs. Net revenue gained 12 percent to 11.5 billion francs in the period.

Credit Suisse will focus ``on enhancing profitability in preparation for a potential capital market transaction,'' the company said today. Credit Suisse bought Winterthur in 1997, hoping to benefit by selling banking and insurance products. Instead, the unit contributed to a record 4.3 billion-franc loss in 2002.

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