Swiss banking giant UBS AG confirms that its third quarter pre-tax loss will be in the range of 600 million to 800 million Swiss francs (US$515.9 million to US$687.9 million), as it announced earlier this month.

The move comes after Merrill Lynch reported a much bigger hit from the credit crunch than it had previously announced. That development has some fearing that other firms may have to revise their loss estimates.

UBS will release its quarterly results tomorrow, however today it re-confirmed that it will report an overall group loss that is within the range of CHF 600 million -800 million given in the announcement on October 1.

It also added some cautious words about future results. “UBS would also like to state that the fourth quarter has started with good results from all businesses, including the Investment Bank. However, the FICC business remains exposed to further deterioration in the US housing and mortgage markets as well as rating downgrades for mortgage-related securities, which could lead to further writedowns on the positions,” it said. “As a result, UBS is not assuming that the quarter will continue as positively as it has begun, or that the current difficulties will be resolved in the short term.”