Swiss banking giant UBS (UBS: sentiment, chart, options) this morning reported a first-quarter loss of 11.54 Swiss francs ($10.99 billion), compared to a year-ago profit of 3.03 billion francs. The earnings, which included $19 billion in write-downs, were largely in line with expectations. Looking ahead, UBS reps stated that the company "expects this difficult environment to remain and be characterized by a continuing unfavorable global economic climate." The firm also revealed a strategy to focus more on controlling costs in the future.

The financial guru also stated it would slash 2,600 jobs in its investment banking unit by the end of 2008, also revealing plans to cut approximately 7% of its workforce (around 5,500 jobs) across the group by mid-2009. Most of the cuts, according to UBS reps, are expected to come out of the fixed-income business, with some job losses coming from the wealth management and asset management departments, as well as from the corporate center.

What's more, UBS announced it has agreed in principle to sell a $15-billion heap of its risky mortgage portfolio to BlackRock Inc. (BLK: sentiment, chart, options) . The assets reportedly have a nominal value of approximately $22 billion, and are being bartered at around the price they'd been marked down on the Swiss bank's balance sheet. On top of all that, UBS revealed plans to eventually axe its municipal bond business.

From a technical perspective, UBS shares are down roughly 45% since trading near the 65 level a year ago, currently battling resistance from their 20-week moving average. Right out of the gate this morning, the stock is hovering near the 33.20 marker, trading at a 3.18% deficit from Monday's close.

Ahead of the report, sentiment in the options realm was mixed, as the stock's SOIR of 1.41 ranks in the 47th annual percentile.