Baumann & Cie, a Basel-based private bank, has seen its profit dwindle last year. Notwithstanding the bare figures, the owners are happy about the performance.

Bank Baumann & Cie had a profit of 13.3 million Swiss francs last year, 15 percent less than a year earlier, the owners of the bank said at a press conference Monday in Basel. All in all, they are pleased about the performance of their bank, despite the drop in profit.

As most other companies in the finance industry, Bank Baumann has faced tough business conditions in 2016, with troublesome markets and as interest rates were kept below zero. Still, following a series of years with declining assets under management, the bank turned the trend, reporting a slight increase.

Drop in Commissions, Services

The bank doesn't report the assets under management – they likely remain in the low to medium single-digits.

The decline in profit is mainly due to a 4 percent drop in earnings from commissions and services. Interest income by contrast rose 14 percent and earnings from trading by 12 percent from a year earlier.

Urs Baumann Retires

Bank Baumann has a private banking unit, an investment vehicle and a private-equity division. Earnings at the investment unit rose 5 percent, those at private equity by 16 percent. The cost-income ratio is 60 percent.

Matthias Preiswerk, Daniel Rueedi and Rolf Buehler, the bank's operative owners, also said that Urs Baumann, who never was an operative executive at the bank, took back his fixed capital contribution and retired. He will remain a shareholder of the limited partnership.