Basellandschaftliche Kantonalbank first-half profit stagnated despite the regional bank’s efforts to expand its product offerings, particularly in the mortgage insurance business.
Basellandschaftliche Kantonalbank’s (BLKB) profit in the first six months of 2018 slipped 0.3 percent on the year to 52.3 million Swiss francs ($52.3 million), it said in a statement Tuesday. Operating income in the period reached 177.8 million francs, a decline of 2.4 percent, while operating expenses were little changed at 87.6 million francs.
The regional bank’s tie-ups with insurers Basler Versicherung and Anivo, offering clients various real-estate related insurance solutions, bore little fruit in the first half of the year. The bank’s total client assets as of mid-year reached 19.8 billion francs, of which 3.1 billion francs were in managed assets.
Looking ahead the BLKB expects full-year earnings to be slightly below the year-earlier level, with the low interest-rate environment continuing to weigh on its margins, according to the statement.
