By Noele Illien

ZURICH, May 7 (Reuters) - UBS reported net income of $1.8 billion for January-March, its first quarterly profit since it took over fallen rival Credit Suisse.

The net income attributable to shareholders for Switzerland's largest bank was better than a company-provided consensus estimate of $602 million and compares with a profit of $1 billion in the same period a year earlier.

UBS also said on Tuesday that it had achieved an additional $1 billion in gross cost savings in the first quarter, taking total savings to $5 billion. It is aiming to achieve another $1.5 billion in savings by the end of the year.

The first merger of two global systemically important banks - orchestrated by Swiss authorities who feared that scandal-ridden Credit Suisse was on the brink collapse - was completed last June after which UBS posted two consecutive quarters of losses due to the costs of absorbing its rival.

Despite the shot-gun nature of the takeover, investors have been upbeat about UBS's prospects given the low acquisition costs and its huge increase in assets. Shares in the bank have climbed some 40% over the past year.

This year is expected to be a pivotal year for UBS as it tackles some of the trickier stages of integration such as combining separate IT systems and legal entities, as well as migrating clients from Credit Suisse to UBS. (Reporting by Noele Illien; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)