LGT has seen profit increase sharply in the first half of 2018 and new net money is also stacking up. Last year’s shopping tour seems to have paid off for Liechtenstein's princely bank.
LGT had a first-half profit of 174.8 million Swiss francs ($178.6 million), up 15 percent from the same period a year ago. The increase reflected the broad-based earnings revenue growth of 17 percent, to which the acquisitions integrated last year made a significant contribution, the bank of the principal family of Liechtenstein said on Tuesday.
The earnings of ABN Amro in Asia and private-debt manager European Capital Fund were integrated into LGT’s in May and June of 2017.
Revenue Growth
Operating income rose to 830.7 million francs. Income from services added 18 percent to 541.8 million francs, attributable to the larger asset base and favorable growth in the advisory and brokerage business. Net interest and similar income rose 39 percent to 138.8 million francs, supported in particular by the higher business volume in Asia.
Vaduz-based LGT had net new money of 5 billion francs and boosted assets under management to 206 billion. The slightly more challenging market conditions affected the performance of the bank.
More to Come
«LGT has more than doubled its assets under management in the last six years,» said Prince Max von und zu Liechtenstein. «I am pleased that we once again recorded healthy net new asset inflows in the first half of 2018 while at the same time further increasing our revenues and profitability.»
The acquisitions of LGT increased operating expenses by 15 percent to 594 million francs. Despite the higher costs, the bank was able to improve the cost-income-ratio to 71.5 percent at the end of June from 74.1 percent at the end of 2017.
LGT expects to achieve further profitable growth in the second half.
