Valiant, a Swiss regional bank, increased its profit in the first quarter. Some big clients have removed assets from the bank after it started charging interest on cash holdings.
Valiant had an operating profit of 29.8 million Swiss francs in the first quarter of 2017, up 2.6 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a statement today. With operating costs little changed, the Bern-based bank posted net income of 23.8 million, up 1.8 percent year-on-year.
Interest income, which accounts for about four fifths of Valiant’s revenue, rose 1.6 percent to 71.5 million francs, with the interest margin unchanged at 1.1 percent.
Lending Up Slightly
The bank said that competition in the mortgage business had stiffened in some regions, adding that it didn’t want to grow the business by lowering its margin. Lending increased 0.8 percent to 22.4 billion. Mortgages added 0.6 percent to 20.8 billion.
Commission income declined markedly to 14.4 million francs, a drop of 4.1 percent. Trading income also fell, narrowing by 3.4 percent to 2.5 million.
Asset Outflow
The bank reported an outflow of 431 million francs of clients' assets, a development it had foreseen. The bank had started passing on negative interest charged by the central bank on sight deposits. The bank reiterated that it applied negative interest selectively and to large customers only.
Valiant will hold its annual general meeting in Lucerne on May 18.
