Banque Cantonale Vaudoise had a moderate increase in profit in 2017. The bank will tap into its reserves to keep shareholders happy, much like last year.

Pressure on margins and negative interest rates are making life hard for Banque Cantonale Vaudoise (BCV), the state-owned bank of the Vaud region and second-largest such institution in Switzerland. Operating profit rose 1 percent to 387 million Swiss francs and net was up 3 percent to 320 million francs, the company said in a statement today.

The increase was mainly due to the sale of a property, which will also affect the result in 2018. Total revenues were virtually unchanged at 967 million francs. Net interest income was flat at 478 million, while commission and fee income added 3 percent to 316 million. Net trading income dropped 4 percent to 134 million francs.

Dividend Policy

BCV decided to propose a continuation of its dividend policy. The board proposes to pay 23 francs per share plus an additional 10 francs per share payable from its the capital reserve. This is in line with last year’s decision.

The bank also intends to continue with its current dividend policy for a further five years, the company said.

Increase in Assets Under Management

Assets under management rose 1 percent to 86.5 billion francs. The bank had an outflow of 5.3 billion francs due to the transfer of Swisscanto funds. Without this transfer, the increase in assets amounted to 6.4 billion. Net new money totaled 2.3 billion.

BCV expects the results for 2018 to be in line with those of the past years, barring a significant deterioration of financial markets and general economic situation.