UPDATE 5-C.Suisse scents recovery after record FY loss

* Q4 net loss 6 bln sfr, missing forecasts

* Says 2009 promising, but cuts some targets

* Reiterates to cut investment bank to 17,500 staff

* Further cuts exposure to risky assets

* Shares pare losses to 2 pct

(Adds cut to long-term forecasts, CEO quotes, capital ratios)

By Lisa Jucca and Emma Thomasson

ZURICH, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) posted its biggest ever annual loss after a poor fourth quarter hit by trading losses and restructuring charges, but expressed cautious optimism for 2009 even as it cut some financial targets.

The Swiss bank said 2009 had started relatively well and each of its divisions was showing a profit in the year to date, echoing upbeat comments from rival UBS (UBSN.VX) (UBS.N), which on Tuesday reported the biggest annual net loss in Swiss history.

"We are well positioned going into 2009 ... (but) this is not a 'light at the end of the tunnel' message," Chief Executive Brady Dougan told a news conference.

Switzerland's second-largest bank said on Wednesday that its net loss for the full year was 8.2 billion francs, worse than the average analyst forecast of 6.3 billion from a Reuters poll but in line with predictions from some Swiss newspapers and less than half the loss posted by UBS.

Credit Suisse racked up a fourth-quarter loss of 6 billion Swiss francs ($5.2 billion), missing an average analyst forecast of 4 billion while further reducing its exposure to risky asset classes as it slashed its dividend and staff bonuses.

The bank also cut some of its long-term targets, including its core goal for an annual return on equity which was pared back to "above 18 percent" from a previous 20 percent.

It proposed a 2008 cash dividend of just 0.10 francs, compared to 2.50 francs in 2007.

CEO Dougan said the bank had "made mistakes" but now had a stronger capital base than most of its peers and was still managing to attract client inflows at its private bank.

Shares in Credit Suisse were down 1.9 percent at 30.30 francs at 1038 GMT, while UBS shares, which gained strongly on Tuesday, rose 1 percent to 13.76 francs, compared with a 1.6 percent weaker DJ Stoxx European banking index .SX7P.