Valartis had another whopping loss in the first half of 2016 as the banking group attempts to complete the cleanup following its decision to abandon the private-banking business.
Valartis had a loss of 46.5 million Swiss francs in the first six months, more than double the loss of 21.4 million a year earlier, the company said in a statement today. The loss widened because of the divestment of units and was previously announced.
The bank earlier this year sold assets of Valartis Bank (Austria) to Privatbank SE, based in Vienna. Valartis had acquired the Austrian unit in 2008. With the divestment, Valartis shifted exchange rate losses amounting to 39.8 million francs into its consolidated income statement.
Valartis Remains Solvent
The one-time effect has no influence on the consolidated shareholder equity of Valartis Group and as such on the intrinsic value of the group's share, the company said.
The loss of the business that will be continued narrowed to 7.5 million francs from 11.1 million francs.
Valartis Group and Valartis Finance Holding are not insolvent. They still retain a good shareholder's equity base and sufficient assets to complete the restructuring plan. The Tier 3 capital ratio for Valartis Finance Holding was 16.3 percent on June 30, 2016.
Restructuring and Relaunch
Valartis Group has two main targets for the remainder of the business year. One is to successfully conclude the restructuring process of both companies and to introduce the strategic relaunch of Valartis Group.
The supervisory board in 2015 had decided to sell the stakes and also to give up private banking as a business. It was instead to focus on investments in financial services, real-estate management and private equity.
The new business plan also implied changes to the company's service platform and to the organization and infrastructure.
