BEKB will pay a higher dividend this year despite a slight decline in profit. The cantonal bank of Bern reduced costs last year.
BEKB had a profit of 129.4 million Swiss francs last year, 1.5 percent less than in 2015, the company said in a statement today. The Bern-based bank proposes to pay a dividend of 6.20 francs per share, up 0.2 franc from a year ago.
The bank was forced to pay 73 million francs to hedge against interest rates changes last year as the bank remained under pressure from negative rates charged by the central bank.
Jobs Cut
BEKB lowered its costs by 2.1 percent last year, cutting 82 jobs. It now has 1,009 full-time-equivalents. The reduction in staff was mainly due to a restructuring of its distribution.
Managed assets of private clients increased 1 billion francs to 21 billion francs, the bank said. The increase was mainly down to the success of its newly launched funds.
Dampened Expectations
BEKB retains its long-term goals but dampened expectations as the interest rate policy of the central bank makes it harder to generate growth.
